As the agricultural systems of many countries are poised, as a result of the recent advances in biotechnology for what may soon come to be called the Second Green Revolution, this book is particularly appropriate. Vandana Shiva examines the impact of the first Green Revolution on the breadbasket of India. In a cogent empirical argument, she shows how the 'quick fix' promise of large gains in output pushed aside serious pursuit of an alternative agricultural strategy grounded in respect for the environmental wisdom of peasant systems and building an egalitarian, needs-prientated agriculture consistent with the village-based, endogenous political traditions of Gandhism. Dr Shiva documents the destruction of genetic diversity and soil fertility that resulted and in highly original fashion shows how the Green Revolution also contributed to the acute social and political conflicts now tearing the Punjab apart. Set in the context of a sophisticated critique of the privileged epistemological position achieved by modern science, whereby it both aspires to provide technological solutions for social and political problems while at the same time disclaiming responsibility for the new problems which it creates in its wake, the author looks to the future in an analysis of a new project to apply the latest Gene Revolution technology to India and warns of the further environmental and social damage which will ensue.
As the agricultural systems of many countries are poised, as a result of the recent advances in biotechnology for what may soon come to be called the Second Green Revolution, this book is particularly appropriate. Vandana Shiva examines the impact of the first Green Revolution on the breadbasket of India. In a cogent empirical argument, she shows how the 'quick fix' promise of large gains in output pushed aside serious pursuit of an alternative agricultural strategy grounded in respect for the environmental wisdom of peasant systems and building an egalitarian, needs-prientated agriculture consistent with the village-based, endogenous political traditions of Gandhism. Dr Shiva documents the destruction of genetic diversity and soil fertility that resulted and in highly original fashion shows how the Green Revolution also contributed to the acute social and political conflicts now tearing the Punjab apart. Set in the context of a sophisticated critique of the privileged epistemological position achieved by modern science, whereby it both aspires to provide technological solutions for social and political problems while at the same time disclaiming responsibility for the new problems which it creates in its wake, the author looks to the future in an analysis of a new project to apply the latest Gene Revolution technology to India and warns of the further environmental and social damage which will ensue.
Introduction 1. Science and Politics in the Green Revolution 2. 'Miracle Seeds' and the Destruction of Genetic Diversity 3. Chemical Fertilizers and Soil Fertility 4. Intensive Irrigation, Large Dams and Water Conflicts 5. The political and Cultural Costs of the Green Revolution 6. Pepsico for peace? The Ecological and Political Risks of the Biotechnology Revolution 7. The Seed and the Spinning Wheel: The Political Ecology of Technological Change
Vandana Shiva is the author of the much-acclaimed Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development. Physicist, philosopher and feminist, she is Director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy, Dehradun. She is active in citizens' action against environmental destruction, including the Chipko Movement. She is also the Science and Environment Advisor of the Third World Network.
Shiva has devoted her life to fighting for the rights of ordinary
people in India. Her fierce intellect and her disarmingly friendly,
accessible manner have made her a valuable advocate for people all
over the developing world.
*Ms Magazine*
The South's best known environmentalist.
*New Internationalist*
One of the world's most prominent radical scientists
*The Guardian*
Shiva is a burst of creative energy, an intellectual power.
*The Progressive*
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