Clean Soil and Common Ground: The Biopolitics of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Austria

Abstract

Conventional wisdom holds that Catholicism directly correlates with conservatism in addressing the challenges brought about by the new reproductive technologies. A comparison between Austria and Italy blatantly defies this wisdom: while in Italy—with a significantly larger observant Catholic population—a restrictive law on embryo research (2004) was challenged by a broad public debate and a referendum to overturn it, Austrians have never challenged their prohibitive Reproductive Medicine Law (1992), which effectively bans human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. This phenomenon can be understood by shedding light on several aspects relevant to public life in Austria: first, by establishing embryo protection as an overarching goal which pre-emptively silences all debates about using them for research, Austrians collectively demonstrate that they have ‘learned from their history’. Second, because Austrians, as a collective, never had to address their Nazi legacy as directly as their German neighbours, part of that legacy is still present and accounts for a high level of scepticism towards biotechnologies: it pertains particularly to a link between an emphasis on nature conservation, animal rights, and healthy living. However, rather than claiming that the Austrian reluctance to engage in hESC research is merely a function of right wing legacies, we argue that it is the result of a complex web of discourses and practices whose function it is to compensate for the loss of political importance and moral integrity which Austria experienced in the twentieth century.