Reclaiming the Commons: Biodiversity, Indigenous Knowledge, and the Rights of Mother Earth

by Vandana Shiva, Ronnie Cummins (Foreword)

Reclaiming the Commons: Biodiversity, Indigenous Knowledge, and the Rights of Mother Earth lays out the scientific, legal, political, and cultural struggle to defend the sovereignty of biodiversity and indigenous knowledge. Corporate war on nature and people through patents and corporate Intellectual Property Rights has unleashed an epidemic of biopiracy resulting in important legal battles fighting efforts to patent the rights to many plants, including basmati, neem, and wheat. The author presents details of the specific attempts made by corporations to secure these patents and the legal actions taken to fight them. The book goes beyond the legal struggle to position the necessary solutions to corporate control including the exploring the Rights of Nature and proposing a framework for a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. It is the first detailed legal history of the international and national laws related to biodiversity and Intellectual Property Rights.

Genres: Environment, Nature, Indigenous, Social Justice, Nonfiction, Ecology, Food

332 pages, Paperback

Published July 14, 2020

About the author

A major figurehead of the alter-globalization movement as well as a major role player in global Ecofeminism, Dr. Vandana Shiva is recipient to several awards for her services in human rights, ecology and conservation. Receiving her Ph.D in physics at the University of Western Ontario in 1978, Dr. Vandana Shivas attentions were quickly drawn towards ecological concerns.

Reviews

[Alessandra | Journalinthedirt · Rating 4 out of 5]

#DiverseNatureBooks 🏔🏜🌱
RECLAIMING THE COMMONS by: Vandana Shiva
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This #DiverseNatureBooks pick tackles Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge, and the Rights of Mother Earth. Shiva lays out the scientific, legal, political, and cultural struggle to defend the sovereignty of biodiversity and indigenous knowledge. Did you ever think it would be possible to claim the intellectual rights to a flower or an herb? No! Right? Well that’s exactly what many corporations are trying to do here in the US and in many other countries across the world. This not only disrespects the indigenous wisdom surrounding these plants, but it has unleashed an epidemic of biopiracy benefiting the elite.
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One example I’m very familiar with because it hits close to home here in the Southwest, is when The Hatch Chile Company tried to trademark the term “Hatch” in 2016 for its exclusive use. The Hatch Valley may be to chilis what the Napa Valley is to grapes. Whether it’s the soil, the desert’s dry heat, or the waters of the Rio Grande, the little town of Hatch, New Mexico, and its surroundings produce some of the world’s finest chili peppers. I know! I look forward to harvest season every year. Which is happening right now! The Chili roasters are in town and I can smell and feel the spice in the air! The Hatch Chile Company was founded by a white guy named Steve Dawson in 1987. How dare he come into this area and try to take tradition and a staple plant from its people and turn a profit. The sad thing is that his company is one of the fastest growing brands in the “Hispanic” section of US grocery stores... I hate this. It makes me sick. But this is what this book about. It got me fired up!

#ReclaimingTheCommons #VandanaShiva #Biodiversity #SynergeticPress

[Addison Burns]

too much legal talk for me to understand. ;-;

[kyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

does such a spectacular job of highlighting why Indigenous knowledge is crucial and how it’s been exploited over time

[Laura Coramai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally essential reading for anyone interested to know what cutting edge and grounded in the soil, seeds, and very essence of what environmentalism is about. Vandana Shiva is someone I have meant to directly read for many years and with this most recent summary of the important and essential work she and countless others do daily with each breath they take I realize that there is hope to turn things around for the planet. Essential reading to contextualize how environmentalism conservation, eco-spirtualism and activism are all inter-related. Science meets activism/legal work and inspires one to do what they can locally in the global context.