Monsanto and Intellectual Property in South America [electronic resource] /
Filomeno, F.author.
Intellectual property is one of the most valuable forms of property in the modern world. From the perspective of companies producing knowledge-intensive goods, it encourages technological innovations for the benefit of humanity. For consumers of technology, it can be seen as a restriction on access to knowledge that inflates corporate rents. When genetic material crucial for human life is isolated from the commons, engineered and turned into private intellectual property, dissent is likely to emerge. Felipe Filomeno uses the case of Monsanto in South American soybean agriculture to theorize about the emergence and change of intellectual property regimes. Based on official documents, interviews, journalistic material, and academic literature, the study shows not only the relations of competition, coercion, and alliances that lie behind the post-1980 global upward ratchet of intellectual property protection but also the strategies that have the potential to reverse it.
Description based upon print version of record.
Cover; Contents; List of Tables and Figures; Acknowledgments; List of Abbreviations and Acronyms; 1 Introduction; Three perspectives on intellectual property; The puzzle of intellectual property in South American soybean agriculture; The book argument; Research design; Outline; 2 Argentina: The Old Developmental Model; Neoliberalism, intellectual property and Monsanto in Argentine soybean agriculture (1990s); The radicalization of conflicts over intellectual property on seeds in the demise of neoliberalism (2000s); Conclusion; 3 Brazil: The Neodevelopmental Model
Neoliberalism and intellectual property in Brazilian soybean agriculture (1990s)Reforms to the Brazilian intellectual property regime on seeds and the contentious operation of Monsanto's system of royalty collection (2000s); Conclusion; 4 Paraguay: The Dependent Model; Neoliberalism and intellectual property in Paraguayan soybean agriculture (1990s); Reforms to the Paraguayan intellectual property regime on seeds and the contentious operation of Monsanto's system of royalty collection (2000s); Conclusion; 5 Conclusion: Seeds of the Future; Theory; Generalizations; Future scenarios
Normative issues and policy implicationsAppendix - List of interviews; Argentina (Buenos Aires, August 2010); Brazil (several locations, 2011-2012); Paraguay (Asunción, March 2011); Notes; References; Index
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Intellectual property is one of the most valuable forms of property in the modern world. From the perspective of companies producing knowledge-intensive goods, it encourages technological innovations for the benefit of humanity. For consumers of technology, it can be seen as a restriction on access to knowledge that inflates corporate rents. When genetic material crucial for human life is isolated from the commons, engineered and turned into private intellectual property, dissent is likely to emerge. Felipe Filomeno uses the case of Monsanto in South American soybean agriculture to theorize about the emergence and change of intellectual property regimes. Based on official documents, interviews, journalistic material, and academic literature, the study shows not only the relations of competition, coercion, and alliances that lie behind the post-1980 global upward ratchet of intellectual property protection but also the strategies that have the potential to reverse it.
International relations.
Latin America-Politics and gover.
Mass media
Political economy.
Ethnology-Latin America.
Comparative politics.
International Relations.
Latin American Politics.
IT Law, Media Law, Intellectual Property.
International Political Economy.
Latin American Culture.
Comparative Politics.