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LitScan Press Review |
How Well is the World Press Covering TK? - see DI #1 |
| In this section we take a peek at a handful of recent articles in the
mainstream international press and ask, how does the reporting measure up
through the lens of sustainability? In other words, are major news outfits
adequately capturing the social, environmental and economic dimensions of their
subjects? Each article is given a pass or fail, showing how well we think it
comes to grips with the underlying issues of SD. |
| New Scientist | The Way of Logic By Margaret Wertheim December 2, 1995
A refreshing look at the traditional knowledge systems of some
aboriginal peoples. Science is treated as a "cul-tural construct rather
than a quest for some kind of external 'truth'." The result is an inspiring
fusion of anthropo-logical insight and modern science. The take-home message:
different cultures have so much to learn from each other. |
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| African Agenda | Taking on the Biopirates By Joseph Hanlon
Volume 1, no. 7, 1995
Provides a good international picture of the politics surrounding
transnational pharmaceutical research into traditional medicines. A broad
southern backlash appears to be growing against US and other companies that
'take the knowledge and run'. Documents cases in Brazil, Africa, India and Cuba. |
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| Time Magazine | Seeds of Conflict By Michael D. Lemonick
September 25, 1995
Reviews the controversy surrounding the patent claim of American
pharmaceutical firm, W.R. Grace, over a pesticide made from India's neem tree.
Time's conclusion? Though Indian farmers will likely always retain free access
to the tree (known in Sanskrit as sarva roga nivarini - 'curer of all
ailments'), broader questions of benefit sharing need urgent international
attention when TK leads to foreign financial windfalls. |
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| The Economist | A First-Nation Message for Canadians February 24, 1996
A first rate review of a ground-breaking deal in British Columbia to
settle the land claims of the Nisga'a Indians. Hailed by some as setting the
pattern for all settlements to come, the deal is a complex and modern mix of
compensation, land titles and cultural sovereignty that goes well beyond
currently trendy arguments focused on TK alone.
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| The New York Times/AP | FDAis Eliminating Special Restrictions on Biotechnology DrugsNovember 10, 1995 What responsibility does a leading international newspaper like the NYT have to report not just 'news' but also its major implications? This article discusses the easing of US federal restrictions on the biotechnology industry as a narrow matter of improved industrial efficiency. But broader questions go unanswered, like how these changes may increase the power of US pharmaceutical companies at the expense of tropical regions where most drugs originate. Please, more of the news that's fit to print. |  |
| Eureka! Pretty Polished |
A few Holes |
 Virtual Ideas |
Eureka! Of blood and 'bio-pirates' in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands |