Biotech Critics and the Missing Grassroots
- Are the overarching concerns and strategies of the Tarrytown gathering different from those of biotech critics in the last half of the last century? Should they be?
- Why it's important not to avoid activism this time around. What types of activism are most crucial? Why grassroots campaigns are essential in routing cooptive strategies and achieving policy victories.
- Two Strategies Compared: "Governing Emerging Technologies" and Political/Legal Action
- Building the Grassroots
Reaching youth and the general public, providing foci for education and action: College lecture circuit, YouTube videos, Social networking e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Examples of grass roots projects:
BioConversations
Various Alliance for Humane Biotechnology projects: harnessing student power
- Political Campaigns and Grassroots in California:
- Prop 71 (The abortion divide; proponents mobilized the power of grassroots)
- AB 1317: warning on egg broker ads (transcending the abortion divide. student backing, consciousness-raising.)
- Follow-up to AB 1317: Legal complaint requesting enforcement
- Future efforts: letter and petition drives for egg donor registry; action to bring CIRM into compliance, etc
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