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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Primitive Accumulation And Enclosure Of The Commons: Genetically Engineered Seeds And Canadian Jurisprudence, Wilhelm Peekhaus
Primitive Accumulation And Enclosure Of The Commons: Genetically Engineered Seeds And Canadian Jurisprudence, Wilhelm Peekhaus
Wilhelm Peekhaus
This paper juxtaposes the legal decisions made in the case of Percy Schmeiser, who was sued by Monsanto for patent infringement, against the attempt by the Organic Agriculture Protection Fund to obtain class certification in its efforts to sue Monsanto and Bayer for genetic contamination of organic canola. Together these two cases establish an unacceptable incongruity at common law between the rights enjoyed by intellectual property owners and any corresponding duties that might attach to their inventions. I suggest that Marx’s concept of primitive accumulation offers a suitable theoretical register for apprehending contemporary erosions of the commons through the enclosure …
Monsanto Discovers New Social Media, Wilhelm Peekhaus
Monsanto Discovers New Social Media, Wilhelm Peekhaus
Wilhelm Peekhaus
As a number of critical commentators have pointed out for some years now, the Internet and other information and communication technologies are subject to capture by actors motivated less by calls for openness and democratic communication practices than by control, power, and profit. Employing the concept of “framing,” this paper offers a case study of how one company in particular, Monsanto, recently has engaged in vigorous efforts to develop and implement new communication and public relations strategies employing various forms of new social media. The findings are based on interviews with key communications personnel at Monsanto’s corporate head office in …