<nettime> RE: PUBS: Thacker, Bioinformatics and Bio-Logics

[Agent Humble <humble@monkeywrenchcafe.org>]

> Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 10:41:56 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Ryan Griffis <grifray@yahoo.com>
> Subject: <nettime> RE: PUBS: Thacker, Bioinformatics and Bio-Logics
> 
> "The nature-is-not-a-commodity agenda seems pretty
> dead-ended to me, also quite ironic: why would the
> critique - i.e. charges of biopiracy etc. -  affirm,
> even if inadvertently, the character of 'nature' as
> some kind of originary property? No 'theft' without
> property relations, but I guess it's difficult
> to think outside the (property) box, as they say.
> Cheerio, Soenke"
> 
> true that the binary opposition used by most anti-GMO
> movements relies on trad. property relations rhetoric
> ("biopiracy"), but i would suggest that this is
> tactical, and doesn't have to be an ideological
> foundation. if your trying to win an argument in a
> capitalist arena, it might help to use (appropriate)
> their language - you don't have to stick to an
> ownership model in the long term, or even practise it
> outside of the argumentation (what about notions of
> collective ownership - "the commons"?). we could argue
> the theoretical ramifications of this, which is very
> important, but i'd rather argue them in an environment
> where the arguments matter, and aren't just
> compensations for material changes brought about by
> parties invested in pushing biotech forward as fast as
> possible.
> best,
> ryan

Arguing from a standpoint of human health risks brings it into the
sphere of the personal -- individualistic and libertarian, but of the
greatest resonance for most people. I'm not sure how this stuffs into
the "property box"(?)

Arguing from the perspective of ecosystem harm is probably the only
approach that rests solely upon notions of "the commons", and is the
most difficult for the 'average joe' to comprehend.

Tactically, it's best to utilize the whole array and arouse sympathies
across a wide a spectrum as possible.

humble

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