The International Politics of Biotechnology; Investigating Global Futures

by Edited by Alan Russell and John Vogler

• ISBN13: 9780719058684
• ISBN10: 0719058686
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2001-04-07
• Publisher: Manchester University Press

Summary

Experts in global conflict, international political economy, business, and ethics assess the impact of the biotechnological revolution on agriculture, bio-diversity, the environment, North-South, and biological warfare. The first section considers the nature of the science itself, the normative questions raised and the significance of gender responses. The second section addresses biotechnology in relation to international political economy, trade, and the environment, highlighting the politics of food and patents. The final section tackles the question of biological knowledge applied to weapons and the global responses.

Author Biography

Alan Russell is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Staffordshire University.

John Vogler is Professor of International Relations at Liverpool John Moores University.

Table of Contents

List of figures	vii
List of tables	viii
List of contributors	ix
List of abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(10)
John Vogler
Alan Russell
Part I Science, ethics and gender	11	(52)
Biotechnology: a scientific perspective	13	(17)
Francis C. R. Manning
Biotechnology and international relations: the normative dimensions	30	(14)
Hugh Dyer
Ambivalence and anxiety: women and the techno-scientific revolution	44	(19)
Charlotte Bretherton
Karen Stevenson
Part II International political economy, trade and environment	63	(94)
Life patents, TRIPs and the international political economy of biotechnology	67	(18)
Owain Williams
Biotechnology and international political economy: actor-networks in the knowledge structure	85	(15)
Alan Russell
An International political economy perspective of the biotechnology industry: developing regional strengths	100	(23)
Ian Pownall
An international environmental regime for biotechnology	123	(19)
John Vogler
Desiree McGraw
International trade conflicts over agicultural biotechnology	142	(15)
Robert Falkner
Part III Biological warfare: prospects and responses	157	(70)
Biological warfare: the `classical' agents	161	(8)
Malcolm Dando
Anti-crop biological warfare: implications for the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, and the Convention on Biodiversity	169	(17)
Simon Whitby
The future of biological weapons control	186	(11)
Jez Littlewood
Responses to security threats posed by biological weapons	197	(16)
Joanna Spear
Conclusion: the implications for international relations	213	(14)
Alan Russell
John Vogler
Bibliography	227	(26)
Index	253