知识—权力—效用:推动乡村社会变迁的文化生态——以湖北潭村种植转基因作物为例

Truth-power-utility: Promote the Cultural Ecology of the Rural Social Change

随着全球化步伐的加快,种植转基因作物日益成为当下农村不可回避的事实。本文以福柯的"知识—权力"为参照,通过对湖北潭村种植转基因作物的田野调查,来考察其种植结构变迁背后的文化生态。研究发现,转基因作物所具备的效用特性成为一种具有象征意义的符号体系,代表着某种新的、有价值的生产实践,并为村民所普遍接受和信任。村民在种植转基因作物上的能动性主要体现在其种植的惯习,即种植转基因作物并不完全是"知识与权力"主宰之下的行为,试种以后所能观察到的结果成为转基因作物效用的功能性体现,如果没有其效用的存在,知识与权力能起多大作用是值得怀疑的。只有纳入"效用"的概念时,才不会将村民仅仅看成无知且被动的客体,从而更准确阐释全球化形塑下的乡村社会变迁。这种解释有助于我们对农业技术发展下的乡村种植结构变迁获得文化意义上的全面性理解。

Taking the Foucault's truth and power as a basis,this thesis,basing on the data of farmers growing genetically modified crops in Tan Village of Hubei province,is to discuss the cultural ecology under the change of agricultural planting structure. The research find that the characteristic of genetically modified crops becomes a kind of symbolic system,which represents a certain new and valuable production practice and is widely accepted and trusted by peasants. The agency of peasants cultivating genetically modified crops mainly is mainly reflected in their farming habits. That is,cultivating genetically modified crops is not a behavior entirely dominated by truth and power; instead,the result of a test cropping is seen as the function expression of genetically modified crops. Without the utility of genetically modified crops,the effectiveness of truth and power is suspicious. When applying the concept of utility,we can avoid seeing peasants as ignorant and passive objects and thus give rural social change a more accurate interpretation,which helps for a new and comprehensive understanding of the rural social change with the agricultural technology development.