Examines the global regulation of biodiversity politics through international treaties; assessing how the discourse and politics of sustainable development have contributed to the internationalization of the state.

Autorentext

Ulrich Brand is Professor of International Politics at Vienna University, Austria.

Christoph Görg is a Senior Researcher at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ in Leipzig, Germany.

Joachim Hirsch is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Social Sciences, University of Frankfurt, Germany.

Markus Wissen is Assistant Professor of the Institute for Political Science at Vienna University, Austria.

Zusammenfassung
This book examines the global regulation of biodiversity politics through the UN UNConvention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the WTO and other international treaties. Using historical-materialist state and regulation theory, it assesses how the discourse and politics of sustainable development have contributed to the internationalisation of the state. The authors argue that sustainable development, far from being a fixed concept, is a conceptual terrain on which different and conflicting symbolisations of and solutions responses to of the ecological crisis struggle for hegemony. Furthermore, it shows that the international multilateral environmental organisations agreements are not at all a means to counteract neoliberal globalisation but, on the contrary, form an integral part of the ongoing transformation process. Focussing on the UN Convention on Biological DiversityCBD, the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in the World Trade Organisation, this co-authored volume addresses the following issues:state theory, regulation theory and International Political Economybiodiversity protection and valorisation of genetic resourcesaccess to genetic resources and sharing of benefits which arise out of its useenforcement of intellectual property rights and their impact on biodiversity.This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international politics, international political economy, environmental studies, development studies and political ecology.

Inhalt

Introduction: Genetic Resources and the Internationalisation of the State 1. The Regulation of Nature in Post-Fordism 2. On the Value of Nature: The Convention on Biological Diversity and the Commercialisation of Genetic Resources 3. Limits to Commercialisation?: Genetic Resources in Agriculture and the Conflict over a Multilateral Exchange System 4. Politicising Intellectual Property Rights: The Conflicts around the TRIPS Agreement and the World Intellectual Property Organisation 5. The Relevance of the National and the Local: The Disputes over a Valorization Paradigm in Mexico and Chiapas 6. Contested Terrains: Towards a Neo-Poulantzian Approach to International Political Economy