快猫短视频

Biopiracy by Vandana Shiva, Green Books, 拢7.95, ISBN 1870098749

IT TOOK centuries for the notion of terra nullius (empty lands) to
disappear from the colonial imagination. 鈥淓mpty鈥�, to colonists, meant 鈥渘o
Europeans here yet鈥�. Shockingly, the idea is back in a big way.

In Biopiracy, Vandana Shiva argues the intellectual property rights
established under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade are the secular
version of the papal blessings showered on Columbus before he set out. As Shiva
sees it, we are entering an era every bit as far-reaching and destructive as
physical colonisation. The new conquistadors hold similarly racist attitudes,
ignoring ways of life that don鈥檛 fit into their view of the world. Until an
organism can be bought, sold or otherwise exploited in the Western way, it is
deemed to have no value.

Vagaries of the patenting system allow a plant to be 鈥渃olonised鈥� even if it
has a history of community use. Shiva cites the case of the neem tree. The
generations who refined the growing and use of neem are invisible to the patent
authorities. They recognise only the reductionist tinkerings of multinationals
exploiting the tree鈥檚 antibacterial and biopesticidal properties.

Shiva raises a cry for resistance. She argues patenting will lead to the
homogeneity of life. Resisting biopiracy is a struggle to conserve cultural and
biological diversity. Diversity can be maintained by implementing collective
intellectual property rights, a system based upon 鈥渂iodemocracy鈥�.