ABSTRACT
The public understanding of science and technology is considered in light of the debate about new biotechnologies in Denmark. After a review of this debate and a discussion of surveys on public perceptions of biotechnologies, I conclude that a particular kind of “critical acceptance” of new biotechnologies exists in Denmark. It is characterized by a widespread critical attitude in the population and by a degree of consent to and trust in the social regulation of biotechnologies. As argued in this chapter, this response can be understood generally as a reflection of certain traits of Danish political culture and specifically as a result of the controversies over new biotechnologies in the 1980s. Information per se did not play a major role in those processes, only as an element of the overarching debate and political discussion. Regulatory activities, too, played an important role in the rise of critical acceptance. Thus, the impact of information depends on social and historical context. Information itself must be seen in its relation to such wider processes of social and political debate and to the learning processes of the various groups and institutions involved.
