As newer forms of intellectual property—seeds, germplasm, genetic resources, plant varieties—materialize through advancements in biotechnology, a variety of entitlements, claims, and imaginations of citizenship are bred, mimicking the hybrid culture of genetic configurations. This book analyses the theoretical and philosophical frames of new (biotic) property, and assesses how its altered metaphysics inscribes itself in the politics of genetic resources. It probes how rights get ‘framed’ within and by law, in the diverse yet closely interrelated aspects of social, cultural, and biological life. In particular, the book focuses on biocultural entitlements of farming and indigenous communities—people who are at a distance from the global networks of trade, politics, science, and technology. It explores the terms on which the interests of farming and indigenous communities are included and institutionalized as well as the degrees of exclusion and stratification that accompany them. It attempts to uncover the ‘cunning’ or duplicitous nature of these rights—the chasm between their intended benefits and their actual outcomes.
Nivedita Menon is a Professor of Political Science at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. A noted feminist, author, translator and an active commentator, she has been published widely in areas relating to gender, sexuality, caste, politics of science, to name a few. Her key areas of interest include political theory, Feminist theory and Indian Politics.
Lawrence Liang is a legal researcher, lawyer, co founder of the Alternative Law Forum. As an interlocutor and keen advocate of knowledge and culture-commons, he has written extensively on media practices, law, technology, popular culture and the politics of copyright.
Naveen Thayyil is faculty at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. His research and teaching interests include Legal and Democratic theory, Environmental Law, Science, Technology Studies, as also, public policy areas like access to health, education and other public goods.
Chair: Pratap Bhanu Mehta (President, CPR)
