The discursive other dynamics in plant scientists' talk on Phytophthora with experts and the public

This dissertation investigates the interactional effects of Dutch plant science experts' talk in different interaction settings: public meetings, expert board meetings and ethnographic interviews. The main research approach deployed is discursive psychology : a methodology that focuses not on what is said but on what is accomplished with talk. The central topic of all the talk analysed in this thesis is Phytophthora Infestans: a major plant disease in staple crops that helped bring about the Irish famine in the 19th century. Phytophthora is still a large problem. To fight Phytophthora, plant experts have been developing different technologies, some of which, such as genetic modification, are met with public controversy.