Beating the bounds

How Does 'Open Source' Become a Seed Commons

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2157372
AutoresMaywa Montenegro De Wit (0000-0002-8975-5316, autor de correspondencia)
Año2019
Volumen46
Número1
Páginas44-79
Fecha de publicación2019-01-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of Peasant Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0306-6150 • E-ISSN: 1743-9361
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03066150.2017.1383395
OpenAlexW2765881310
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas40
Referencias citadas45

In response to ongoing plant genetic enclosures, the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) is creating a 'protected commons' for seed. It is a project, I argue, that reflects characteristics of a growing transnational commoning movement. From the Zapatistas to seed wars, such movements draw attention to commons not simply as a resource, but as a dynamic and evolving social activity: commoning. In the US, OSSI includes 38 plant breeders, 48 seed companies and 377 crop varieties. Yet challenges remain for OSSI to gain wider legitimacy for 'freed seed', to build trust in a moral pledge, and to establish fair guidelines for which people and which seed can participate in making the commons. Using the metaphor of 'beating the bounds' - a feudal practice of contesting enclosures - I ask how OSSI defends the commons in intersecting arenas. The first way is legal, as OSSI negotiates a move from contract law toward moral economy law. Next is epistemic, as an informal breeder network revitalizes farmer knowledge, while proving more structurally able and culturally equipped to lead commoning efforts. Finally, I reflect on the nature of boundary beating itself, aided by Global South movements. Seed sovereignty perspectives suggest room for a pluriverse of commons to grow

Biology · Commons · Global commons · Law and economics · Legitimacy · Pledge · Political science · Sociology · Sovereignty · Tragedy of the commons · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · CRISPR and Genetic Engineering · Genetically Modified Organisms Research · Law · Ecology