How far can campaigners go before their actions cross the boundary of ‘democratic propriety’? Can one restrictively interpret ‘free expression’ as that which is put forward verbally, in writing or in pictures? Where does a democratic society set the threshold of tolerance with regard to action that goes further than simply proclaiming an idea? When does an action stop being an act of free expression and degenerate into vandalism, hooliganism or worse?

The action taken by the Field Liberation Army on the potato field in Wetteren led to a major public debate on the potential and the dangers of the genetic manipulation of plants. We shall examine what the genetic manipulation of organisms actually involves. Is any attention paid to the balance between risk and profit? Can science remain objective when some of its major financiers would benefit from specific outcomes?