SEED ACTIVISM: PATENT POLITICS AND LITIGATION IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

Seeds are a fascinating object of study. As the first link in the food chain and the very basis of our food supply, seeds carry tremendous material and symbolic importance, as witnessed by the ancient rituals celebrating sowing and harvesting around the world. Today, seeds straddle the world of the infinitely small-molecular biology and new genetics—and global processes such as transnational peasant mobilizations, global IP and environmental policy, and global capital.

The genetic engineering of seeds in the mid-1980s raised an array of complex issues on virtually every level-scientific, legal, socioeconomic, ecological, health-related, and ethical. In Seed Activism, I focus on the proprietary and social justice dimension. Indeed, plant genetic engineering has evolved hand-in-hand with the increasing privatization of seeds and the consolidation of a global seed and agrochemical industry (Howard 2015).