NARRATIVES OF CONFLICT IN AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY POLICY IN INDIA by JUHI HUDA B.A., University of Pune, India, 2007 M.A., University of Pune, India, 2009 M.A., University of Nevada Reno, 2013 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Environmental Studies Program 2019 This dissertation entitled: Narratives of Conflict in Agricultural Biotechnology Policy in India written by Juhi Huda has been approved for the Environmental Studies Program Committee Chair: _________________________________________ Dr. Deserai Anderson Crow, Ph.D. Committee Members: _________________________________________ Dr. Sharon Collinge, Ph.D. _________________________________________ Dr. Peter Newton, Ph.D. _________________________________________ Dr. Elizabeth A. Shanahan, Ph.D. _________________________________________ Dr. Christopher M. Weible, Ph.D. Date: The final copy of this dissertation has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above-mentioned discipline. IRB protocol # 16-0414 ii ABSTRACT Huda, Juhi (Ph.D., Environmental Studies) Narratives of Conflict in Agricultural Biotechnology Policy in India Thesis directed by Associate Professor Deserai Anderson Crow The Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) focuses attention on narratives in policy debates and their empirical analysis. While NPF has become an important and accepted approach to studying the policy process, the majority of research applies it to policy and linguistic contexts of the United States, which limits its generalizability and responsiveness to cultural specificity. In this dissertation, I primarily endeavor to push the NPF forward by refining its concepts and testing its transportability by applying it to the policy subsystem of agricultural biotechnology policy in India. Secondly, I examine how the information contained in these narratives pertaining to policy problems, solutions, science, ethics, risk, and other factors is used strategically in the contentious issue of agricultural biotechnology. I use a mixed method approach drawing on quantitative and qualitative content analysis and qualitative interview data to empirically analyze how stakeholders use policy narratives to interact and advocate for policy change. Using the case study of commercialization of a genetically modified crop, Bt eggplant, I examine media coverage from leading English newspapers in India to explore the strategic use of narrative variables. Findings indicate that policy narratives do not always contain a full suite of narrative components and yet may be among the most common messages received by the public and political actors emphasizing a need to further refine the definition of policy narratives and consider which narratives are important from empirical and audience reception perspectives. I examine the NPF assumption that narratives have generalizable narrative elements irrespective of variation in linguistic context and test its transportability. Findings lenD support to its iii transportability outside the English language and indicate variation in use of narrative elements across languages. Examining setting and plot, I explore further into the policy issue of agricultural biotechnology and focus on the evidence in support of claims about risks and benefits and explore moral notions of risk. Findings indicate that stakeholders use different sources of evidence and proponents de-emphasize risks and exclusively highlight benefits while opponents invoke multi-dimensional risk; and risk perceptions of stakeholders are influenced by moral notions of risk. In sum, the findings inform both the theoretical study of NPF and communication practices of stakeholders. iv To kismet v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A number of people made this dissertation possible, contributed to my professional development, and provideD invaluable support. I can never adequately thank all of them and I apologize for inadvertently leaving anyone out. To my dissertation chair – Dr. Deserai Crow: Deserai, thank you for taking a chance on me. Without your unwavering support and constant guidance, I am certain I would not have made it this far. Your mentorship is invaluable, and I could not have asked for a more thoughtful, caring, driven, and organized advisor. Your meticulous planning and organization made the dissertation process smoother than I could have ever imagineD and helped turn dissertation chapters into published journal articles. Thank you for the research opportunities, for your advocacy on my behalf, and for your words of advice and encouragement at each and every turn. Thank you! To my committee members – Drs. Elizabeth Shanahan, Christopher Weible, Peter Newton, and Sharon Collinge: Liz, thank you for your generous feedback on each of my papers from this dissertation. Your thoughtful advice and your desire to aDvance the NPF forward pushed this dissertation further than I’d imagined it could go. Thank you for always asking the hard questions. Chris, thank you for your feedback on my papers. Liz and Chris, your thoughtful and detailed suggestions helped transform my ideas into publishable manuscripts. Pete, thank you for the insightful conversations on food and agriculture, for your enthusiasm about my project, and for your support. Sharon, thank you for teaching ENVS 5000 in Fall 2014. It was the module on genetic engineering that triggered my journey into agricultural biotechnology. Your enthusiasm for the topic encouraged me to explore it more. To my research group – Elizabeth Koebele, Lydia Lawhon, John Berggren, ADrianne Kroepsch, and Rebecca Schild: Collaborating with you all helped me gain so much research and publication experience. Thank you! To all those I met and who helped me in the field in India – Thank you to the interview participants who shared their valuable time and insight. Thank you to those at Dainik Jagran, especially Mr. Radhe Shyam and Mr. Vijay Singh, who made the Hindi media data collection possible. And thank you to friends, Nisha Garud, Ranjeeth Rane, Preeti Virkar, Hrishi Chandanpurkar, who leveraged contacts to help me connect with interview participants. To friends, colleagues, faculty, and staff in the Environmental Studies Program (ENVS) and in the Program for Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) – Members of the graduate committee at ENVS, thank you for funding so much of my research. It would not have been possible without your generous support. Thank you also for the teaching opportunities. Dr. Max Boykoff, thank you for the opportunity to collaborate. Penny Bates and Jean Lindahl, thank you for making the administrative processes so much smoother. Thank you to PWR - Dr. Steve Lamos, thank you for your excellent guidance on pedagogical practices, thank you to Drs. Steve Lamos and Linda Nicita for the teaching opportunities, and to Melynda Slaughter for helping to navigate the administrative process at PWR. vi To mentors – I wouldn’t have started on this path to my Ph.D. if Dr. Scott Slovic and Dr. Derek Kauneckis (then at University of Nevada Reno) had not guided me in pursuing my own passion and interests. Thank you for your mentorship and guidance. I am also grateful to Dr. Chandrani Chatterjee and (late) Dr. Aniket Jaaware for their early mentorship at the University of Pune. They triggered my journey halfway across the planet. To family – Ammi and Abba, thank you for not holding me back. To my brother, Yusuf, and sister-in-law, Renita, thank you for your love and support even if you, at times, had no idea what I was doing with my life. To Nani, possibly the strongest woman I’ve known. Wish you’d lived to see your granddaughter on this day. I miss you everyday. To Badi Khala and Choti Khala, thank you for your strength, encouragement, and unconditional love. To Aai, Aba, and the Chandanpurkar family, thank you for your love and acceptance. To the two felines in my life, Pan aka Pantalaimon and BoCo aka BoulderColorado. You’ve brought me so much joy and peace. Thank you for all the cuddles. And finally, thank you to Hrishi. Without you, I know I wouldn’t be here. Thank you for believing in me, even when I didn’t. This research has been financially supported by the Graduate School, the Center to Advance Research and Teaching in the Social Sciences (CARTSS), and the Environmental Studies Program at University of Colorado Boulder. vii “Words are events, they do things, change things. They transform both speaker and hearer; they feed energy back and forth and amplify it. They feed understanding or emotion back and forth and amplify it.” - Ursula K. Le Guin, Telling is Listening, The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination (Shambhala Publications, 2004) viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION ............................................................................................................................6 REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................................................7 CHAPTER 2: NARRATIVES OF CONFLICT IN AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY POLICY IN INDIA: THEORY, CASE STUDY, RESEARCH GOALS, AND METHODS .........................................................................................................