Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge Joel Silverstein PHI 407 Spring 2014

Overview Vandana Shiva What is biopiracy who it affects ethical issues other works Silverstein - PHI 407

Vandana Shiva environmental activist ecofeminist champion for rights Published 1997 South End Press, Boston MA Small Book 126 pages (learngrowconnect.org) Silverstein - PHI 407

(etcgroup.org) Silverstein - PHI 407

Pirates had a code of honor The ships they robbed were usually merchants - men who would buy things in one place, and then sell them somewhere else. They respected women, children, and the elderly. (deviantart.com) Silverstein - PHI 407

Today’s Pirates Silverstein - PHI 407

What is Biopiracy? Piracy with a pen and a contract. Appropriation and commercial exploitation of genetic resources in Developing Countries and/or traditional knowledge of indigenous communities by corporations, mostly from Developed Countries, which seek “monopoly control”, through patents, over these resources or inventions derived from these resources. Piracy with a pen and a contract. Silverstein - PHI 407

The Debate Developed countries are exploiting developing countries’ genetic resources and indigenous communities’ traditional knowledge in the name of patent on inventions derived from those genetic resource and traditional knowledge Biopiracy debate is generally connected with the debate on globalization and in respect of intellectual property rights - and the Trade Related Aspects of the WTO Agreement on Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (‘TRIPS’). Silverstein - PHI 407

Book topics Knowledge Creativity and Intellectual Property Rights Redefining Biodiversity Can life be made ? Can life be owned ? The Seed and the Earth exploitation of GMO seeds Tripping Over Life Undermining Ethical Conservation Making Peace with Diversity Nonviolence and Cultivation Diversity Silverstein - PHI 407

How biopiracy works Scientists view nature as a source of raw materials. Corporations patent an organism, gene strain, plant, and own its derivatives Indigenous ideas and applications are purchased for paltry sums Users of seeds, genes, concepts and ideas pay fees to corporations many become indebted to the extent of servitude Silverstein - PHI 407

What constitutes a patent? An ‘invention’ must fulfill three criteria, ‘novelty’, ‘inventive step’ and ‘industrial applicability’. An invention must constitute new knowledge, when compared to the state of the art” at the time of application (novelty), Must not be “obvious to a person skilled in the art” (inventive step) The invention must somehow be susceptible of industrial application. Silverstein - PHI 407

Critisisms of Biopiracy Biopiracy is said to be unfair, unethical and a threat to the existence of indigenous cultures. Indigenous communities are bared from using or exporting their biological resources and traditional knowledge. The companies that take genetic resources from indigenous communities and develop products (e.g. drugs) enabling the company to sell the invention back to its “true inventors”. Silverstein - PHI 407

The conservation of biodiversity, at the most fundamental level is the ethical recognition that other species and cultures have rights, that they do not merely derive value from economic exploitation by a few privileged humans. The patenting and ownership of life-forms is ethically a statement of the opposite belief. Vandana Shiva 1997 Silverstein - PHI 407

Application of Knowledge Rights of communities Rights of ecosystems Genetic Engineering Trade policies Geopolitics Issues that effect Economy, Cultures, Social Structure, and Biodiversity Silverstein - PHI 407

Other Books by Vandana Shiva Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution and Profit Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development Making Peace with the Earth Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice Silverstein - PHI 407

References Gibbons, J. (1976, January 1). Office of Science and Technology Policy. Science Technology and Innovation. Retrieved April 8, 2014, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/about Kothari, A. (1999, January 29). Biodiversity and intellectual property rights: can the two co-exist?, Workshop on Biodiversity Conservation and Intellectual Property Rights, The World Conservation Union. Retrieved April 3, 2014, from http://www.iisd.ca/journal/kothari.html Lamy, P. (2013, September 1). World trade organization. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://www.wto.org Moyers, B. (2013, July 12). Vandana Shiva on the Problem with Genetically Modified Seeds. Moyers & Company. Retrieved April 7, 2014, from http://billmoyers.com/segment/vandana-shiva Shiva, V. (1997). Biopiracy: the plunder of nature and knowledge. Boston, MA: South End Press. Uexkull, O. (1993). The right livelihood award laureats. Retrieved from http://www.rightlivelihood.org/v-shiva.html Silverstein - PHI 407