Chapter Eight. Communicating Quasi-Citizenship? Public Participation In Gmo-Release Permitting Procedures In Hungary – A Conversation Analytic Approach

Abstract

The central issue of public participation and social positioning in GMO-release permitting procedures in Hungary is the notion of citizen in a specific sense. This chapter applies the technique of conversation analysis. It shows that there is a striking parallel between certain central features of present-day Hungarian society and the results of conversation analytic investigations. In particular, the communicative means of public participation, which our conversation analytic research revealed and on which it is reported, are symptoms of the social setting and, as such, reflect relevant features of the latter. The main finding will be that communication of public participation between the government and the public as well as between the other involved parties and the public in the decision making procedures investigated is handicapped in several respects. This exposes the existence of a very restricted kind of communicative citizenship in Hungary that we would provisionally call 'quasi-citizenship'. Keywords: conversation analytic investigation; decision making procedures; GMO; Hungary; public participation; Quasi-citizenship