Book Review: Seeds, Science, and Struggle
Abby Kinchy. Seeds, Science, and Struggle: The Global Politics of Transgenic Crops. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2012. 240 pp. (hardcover). Price: $44.00 ISBN: 978-0-262-01781-7.
Read the review by Peter F. Eder of the World Future Society, published in the March issue of World Future Review:
Abby Kinchy, a social scientist working in the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies, has taken a critical look at the emerging industry of transgenic agriculture and its impact on specific major crops. The central question addressed is as follows: “What is the right way for governments to assess and regulate genetically engineered (GE, or transgenic) organisms that will be released into the environment?”
In the agricultural biotechnology industry, there are a wide range of cultural, economic, and ethical implications that cannot simply be reduced to scientific calculations of risk. The complex issues involved have generated major conflicts over intellectual property, organic standards, genetic diversity, global trade, corporate concentration, and the maintenance of food traditions.
Click here to read more and here to see the March issue Table of Contents, including articles, interviews, book reviews and more from World Future Review.
