Ambition and Ambivalence: Encouraging a "Sci-Tech Culture" in Argentina through Engagement and Regulatory Reform

Abstract

Science matters. Science matters to the development of knowledge, to the sustainability of development, and to the shaping of social mores. Countries transitioning from developing to developed must be prepared to make science work for them and to forge a vision to become competitors in some aspects of science innovation. Drawing on data generated by the “Governing Emerging Technologies: Social Values and Stem Cell Regulation in Argentina” Project (ESRC Award No. RES-000-22-2678), this paper (1) places the current Argentine bioscience setting in context by reviewing the development of biosciences in Argentina, (2) explores understandings of the social dimensions of bioscience innovation in Argentina and the possibilities of enhancing public support for science, and (3) offers some preliminary thoughts on a model for socio-legal activity directed at encouraging social engagement with and the uptake of high technologies in Argentina (i.e., the possibilities for generating a positive and facilitative “sci-tech culture” in Argentina).