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SUMMARY:Science\, Media\, Policy and Wildlife: The Badger/Bovine TB Contro
 versy - Dr Angela Cassidy\, Centre for the History of Science\, Technology
  and Medicine\, Imperial College\, London
DTSTART:20130501T151500Z
DTEND:20130501T161500Z
UID:TALK44561@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Suzy Blows
DESCRIPTION:Debates over whether to cull wild badgers to help manage bovin
 e TB in domestic cattle have been ongoing since the 1970s\, when the two s
 pecies were first linked and badgers became a highly protected wildlife sp
 ecies.  This talk will give an overview of my research investigating publi
 c debates over badgers and bovine TB since the commissioning of the Krebs 
 report in the mid 1990s.  I will discuss how the issue has been framed by 
 opposed groupings of media\, scientific\, industry\, NGO\, celebrity and p
 olitical actors. Advocates on both sides have drawn upon a historical lega
 cy of debate over badgers in British culture to represent the animals eith
 er as innocent victims or disruptive ‘vermin’\; while also mobilising 
 shared rhetorics of ‘the public’ and ‘sound science’ to support th
 eir case. This paper will trace the development of badger/bTB from special
 ist debate into mainstream public controversy\, and examine the role of po
 larisation in this process.  Finally\, it will reflect on the various scie
 nces involved with badgers and bTB\, their relationships with political de
 cision making\, and how the issue might be reframed in order to move beyon
 d the current impasse over how best to manage this worsening animal diseas
 e problem.
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre 1\, Department of Veterinary Medicine
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