Discussing conceptual frameworks and its agenda for politics in agri-biotechnology

PELLEGRINI, PABLO A.

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 4S/ESOCITE; 2014

In this paper I present and discuss different frameworks in which the benefits of an innovation may be conceptualized, particularly in relation to its implication for politics in agri-biotechnology. Perspectives from the "social utility of knowledge" are analyzed as concerning about the possibilities of a technology for solving users problem, usually local and vulnerable actors. Within this framework, some perspectives may focus on ideal users, while other emphasizes the bondages with real users in order to successfully solve their needs. An inverse approach may be represented by the "conventional use of knowledge", where knowledge is conceived in order to attend a very different kind of actor: capital needs. The intention of this paper is to show the constrains that these different approaches may exert towards the development of politics in agricultural biotechnology. With this purpose, another approach is also proposed to think the development of politics in agricultural biotechnology: an approach from the "appropriation of knowledge". In this sense, we propose that instead of thinking from the benefits of the technology in terms of its potential to solve problems, the approach from the possibilities of appropriation of value generated by innovations may expand the margins to deploy policies in agricultural biotechnology. All this conceptual framework discussion is empirically illustrated with cases of recent agri-biotechnological developments in Latin-America that relates with one or other framework. This way, constrains and possibilities of each framework are critically analyzed with empirical allusions.