- Hardcover: 148 pages
- Publisher: South End Press (Jan 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0896085562
- ISBN-13: 978-0896085565
- Product Dimensions: 2.3 x 1.4 x 0.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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4,243,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #81 in Books > Business, Finance & Law > Law > International > Economic & Trade
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Product Description
Synopsis
Argues that the intellectual property provisions of the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade, the World Trade Organization, and other international institutions perpetuates the assumption that Europeans have the right to appropriate the natural world and extends it into new frontiers such as genetic codes, and life- forms from microbes and plants
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
'Deftly argued but fundamentally flawed' better applies to the review of that name than this excellent book. In Biopiracy, Vandana Shiva lifts the lid on the west's exploitation of both the natural world and people of less developed nations in order to prop up its own consumerist version of progress. I don't get at all that Shiva is arguing against patents or those who develop novel foods or crops being able to to reap rewards from that. What she is drawing attention to, is how those countries which don't have a well developed sense of intellectual property rights are being mined by those which do; primarily America. The genetic make up of people is being taken against their knowledge under the pretext of vaccination schemes or research into illness, to benefit pharmaceutical and health organisations. The molecular structure of crops which have been selected for generations by farmers in arid region can also be studied back in the lab and patented for sale back to the same farmers in the form of F1 seeds which cannot be saved in the traditional way for planting the next year but instead must be bought annually.
The basis of the argument here is that all the benefits of this biological research in developing countries are taken by the west and not shared back with the places which the knowledge came from as people in less developed nations do not know the value of their knowledge and natural resources, and are naive in the way that these can be exploited and even used against them for further mining of profit. If the profit and knowledge gained from natural and human wealth was used to benefit all of humanity rather than a few multinational corporations I suspect that Vandana Shiva would not have such a problem with the huge rise in patenting of genes and crops. And neither would I.
The basis of the argument here is that all the benefits of this biological research in developing countries are taken by the west and not shared back with the places which the knowledge came from as people in less developed nations do not know the value of their knowledge and natural resources, and are naive in the way that these can be exploited and even used against them for further mining of profit. If the profit and knowledge gained from natural and human wealth was used to benefit all of humanity rather than a few multinational corporations I suspect that Vandana Shiva would not have such a problem with the huge rise in patenting of genes and crops. And neither would I.
6 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Shiva argues for a "collective intellectual property right", i.e., a state ownership, of any chemical or drug derived from a plant or organism found in a given country. She uses all the right code words designed to raise the hackles of rightousness- words like "racism" and "exploitation" and "diversity"- to in effect argue that people who live in a region- or rather, their rulers- own any and all possible profits that might arise from the use of a natural resource, whether or not they themselves choose to exploit it.
This is an economically naiive argument that doesn't understand that a resource isn't a resource if no one is using it. The book is basically framed as an argument for wealth transfer to the third world, as if that was the only source in the world of useful resources.
In the end, Shiva is arguing against the very system that allowed the exploitation of natural resources for use by humans. If we had to peel the bark from a tree every time we had a headache, we'd go through a lot of trees- and those in colder climates would be out of luck. But Bayer's asprin patent eventually allowed people the world over to buy the synthetic equivalent for pennies.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Impeccable analysis of one of world's greatest problems
20 Dec 1999
Format:Paperback
In Biopiracy, the Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, Vandana Shiva starts from the very reasonable premise that life forms, used for nutritional and medicinal purposes by native cultures for centuries, should not be patented by foreign multinational corporations as "new discoveries". In other words, this book is not for anyone who feels that it is okay to patent life forms which are modifications of already existing species. If you are interested in the problems with this approach and its political, economic, and moral implications, this book is necessary reading. Shiva exposes this exploitation of the intellectual and material wealth of the third world in the name of profits. Shiva's Monocultures of the Mind is also strongly recommended.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
An important introduction to the global threat to biodiversity
7 Nov 2005
Format:Paperback
Vandana Shiva has become one of the most outspoken defenders of biodiversity and the commons, persistently working to advance the public understanding of a complicated history of corporate and legislative decisions that have changed the landscape of our lives and the lives of people the world over. She has contributed to a vital dialogue about the effects of globalization and the silent tragedies that are occuring every day because of strange business practices and the relentless politics of the new manifest destiny. "Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge" is a succinct and accessible introduction to the issue of patents and corporate control of the natural world. Shiva is an articulate educator who writes about the difficult and often unspoken history of corporate exploitation of the knowledge of non-Western cultures. By arguing vehemently for the preservation of the farmer's right to save seeds, as well as local rights to ecological and historically tested uses of the natural world, Shiva outlines an ethical path for movement forward and for responding proactively to unfair business practices. I read this book in the context of a larger look at the world's food supply from an ecological and political perspective, but it speaks to a wide audience and can reach far in spreading truth about what is happening in our world - much of which is not getting reported in the mainstream media.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
A sharp warning cry of alarm
14 Feb 2003
Format:Paperback
Biopiracy by physicist, ecologist, and environmental activist Vandana Shiva is a harsh but perceptive survey and analysis of the expansion of population pressures on the environment, and more importantly, the technological advances which have been made and which seemingly have begun to dominate and shape life itself, as well as the process by which life is generated. A timely and critically important contribution to environmental policy discussions, Biopiracy is recommended as a sharp warning cry of alarm at where humanity's current tendency to pollute and put the dollar first can lead, as well as the damage that modern trends have down to traditional ways of life, -- especially among native peoples.
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