Neo tribal entrepreneurialism and the commodification of biodiversity : WIPO's displacement of redistribution for private property rights
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2005
Closed Access
Filename | Description | Size | |||
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01Front.pdf | contents and abstract | 684.23 kB | |||
02Whole.pdf | thesis | 5.49 MB |
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NO FULL TEXT AVAILABLE. Access is restricted indefinitely. ----- While the most biologically diverse regions of the world are penetrated by
bioprospectors, the specimens are destined for patent claims in the patent offices of
industrialised nations. These developments do not exist in a vacuum but are being
mobilised within an elaborate global trading regime, under which nations are finding it
increasingly difficult to reject such patterns of resource appropriation and
exploitation. The controversy, which arises, is around access. The most biodiverse
regions of the world are found in developing countries and recent clashes between
local communities and bioprospectors threaten the supply of genetic information to
biotechnology companies. There is also a fear amongst poorer communities that
corporate patents may
affect their own use and access of genetic resources.
However it is becoming more difficult to justify these fears about Intellectual property
Rights (IPRs) in the broadest sense due to some contemporary developments, which
would see the inclusion of those who have been left out of opportunities to financially
benefit from development. The World Intellectual Property Organisation's (WIPO)
roles in this has become central. While the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) obliged
countries to allow commercial exploitation of biodiversity as a means of conservation,
the World Trade Organisation's 'Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights' (TRIPs) Agreement obliges countries to recognize IPR over biological
organisms. For a long time both forums were seen as inadequate for addressing issues
of inequality that may flow from the domination of genetic exploitation by corporate
interests. In recent years, WIPO has been vested with the role of formulating
mechanisms for the sharing of benefits from genetic exploitation between corporations
and local communities
The thesis examines WIPO's new dominance not only in IPR forums but also in forums
on development and conservation, through an analysis of the historical emergence of
intellectual property regimes.
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