As the world’s billionaire class reaps record profits and global inequalities further divide nations and communities, this anthology compiled by renown activist Dr. Vandana Shiva pulls back the curtain on how ruthless capitalistic exploitation branded as philanthropic altruism forges a direct path to global destruction.
Philanthrocapitalism and the Erosion of Democracy: A Global Citizens’ Report on the Corporate Control of Technology, Health, and Agriculture details how global philanthrocapitalists like Bill and Melinda Gates and affiliated entities work to monopolize and privatize sectors of land use, food production, and public health on a global scale.
Through various initiatives, sub-organizations, development schemes, and funding mechanisms, the Gates empire in particular weaves an intricate network of power and influence designed to ensnare local communities and traditions in an unwavering pursuit of profit and market expansion.
Philanthrocapitalism and the Erosion of Democracy calls to account problematic initiatives that serve to corrode the integrity of democratic institutions, often under a banner of future-oriented innovation. This book lays bare the destructive power of overly capitalistic systems that enable mass human suffering and environmental catastrophe via the entanglement of private investment and public policy.
This democratic emergency is analyzed in detail by leading experts and civil society movements’ leaders, such as: Dr. Vandana Shiva, Farida Akhter, José Esquinas Alcàzar, Nicoletta Dentico, Fernando Cabaleiro, Seth Itzkan, Dru Jay, Satish Kumar, Jonathan Latham, Aidé Jiménez-Martínez, Chito Medina, Zahra Moloo, Silvia Ribeiro, Adelita San Vicente, Ali Tapsoba, Jim Thomas, Timothy A. Wise. International organizations and national movements who also participated include ETC Group, Community Alliance for Global Justice/AGRA Watch, Soil4Climate, Bioscience Resource, GM Watch, Naturaleza de Derechos – Argentina, Masipag – Philippines, Terre à Vie – Burkina Faso, UBINIG – Bangladesh.
Philanthrocapitalism and the Erosion of Democracy is an anthology of essays providing diverse perspectives on the dangers of corporate and individual billionaire philanthropic "developments" in agricultural technology, food, knowledge, and global health systems. It is compiled by Vandana Shiva and her organization, Navdanya, with the contributions of many leading civil society experts and movements.
| Foreword |
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ix | |
| Introduction: Philanthrocapitalism and Colonization in the Digital Age |
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xv | |
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SECTION I A GLOBAL EMPIRE |
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Disrupting a World of Traditional Knowledge, Sovereignty, and Biodiversity |
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3 | (14) |
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An Overview of Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations |
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17 | (10) |
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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the International Rice Research Institute Alliance |
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27 | (16) |
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SECTION II PATENTS, GENE EDITING, AND DIGITAL SEQUENCE INFORMATION |
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Seed Ownership Through New Gene Editing Technologies |
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43 | (4) |
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Gene Editing: Unexpected Outcomes and Risks |
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47 | (4) |
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Megadiverse Countries as Providers of Genetic Resources & Digital Sequence Information |
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51 | (10) |
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Adelita San Vicente Tello |
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Biopiracy of Climate Resilient Seeds |
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61 | (6) |
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Biopiracy Case Studies: GMO Bananas |
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67 | (12) |
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SECTION IV GLOBAL AGRICULTURE |
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The Recolonization of Agriculture |
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79 | (14) |
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A Treaty to Protect Our Agricultural Biodiversity |
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93 | (8) |
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Ag Tech: Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations in Argentina |
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101 | (8) |
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SECTION V THE THIRD "GREEN REVOLUTION" |
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109 | (6) |
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Why We Oppose Golden Rice |
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115 | (6) |
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Stop Golden Rice Network (SGRN) |
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The Dystopia of the Green Revolution in Africa |
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121 | (8) |
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The Gates Foundation's Green Revolution Fails Africa's Farmers |
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129 | (8) |
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Seeds of Surveillance Capitalism |
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137 | (6) |
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SECTION VI BIOTECHNOLOGY & GEOENGINEERING |
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The Problems with Lab Made Food |
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143 | (6) |
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Software To Swallow: The Intellectual Property Model of Food |
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149 | (2) |
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Bill Gates' Climate "Solutions": Funding for Geoengineering |
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151 | (12) |
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SECTION VII GENE DRIVES & THE SIXTH MASS EXTINCTION |
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Driven to Exterminate: How Bill Gates Brought Gene Drive Extinction Technology into The World |
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163 | (12) |
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Gates Foundation Hired a Public Relations Firm to Manipulate the UN Over Gene Drives |
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175 | (4) |
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Targeting Palmer Amaranth: A Traditionally Nutritious and Culturally Significant Crop |
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179 | (4) |
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Global Resistance to Genetic Extinction Technology |
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183 | (8) |
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SECTION VIII MEDIA, HEALTH, AND EDUCATION |
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191 | (8) |
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The Philanthropic Monopoly of Bill & Melinda Gates |
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199 | (16) |
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How the Cornell Alliance Spreads Disinformation and Discredits Agroecology |
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215 | (4) |
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Community Alliance for Global Justice and Agra Watch Bt Brinjal: Alliance for Crooked Science & Corporate Lies |
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219 | (14) |
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SECTION X AN EARTH-BASED PHILOSOPHY |
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233 | (4) |
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| Contributors |
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237 | (2) |
| Endnotes |
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239 | (34) |
| Index |
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273 | |
Dr. Vandana Shiva is an author, physicist, ecologist and advocate of biodiversity conservation and protection of farmers' and women's rights. Her pioneering work around food sovereignty, traditional agriculture, and womens rights created fundamental cultural shifts in how the world views these issues. Along with Jerry Mander, Edward Goldsmith, Ralph Nader, and Jeremy Rifkin, Dr. Shiva is a leader and board member of the International Forum on Globalization and a prominent figure of the global solidarity movement known as the alter-globalization movement.
Dr. Shiva founded Navdanya, an organization that promotes agroecology, seed freedom, and a vision of Earth Democracy, seeking justice for the Earth and all living beings. She has authored more than 20 books including Reclaiming the Commons: Biodiversity, Indigenous Knowledge, and the Rights of Mother Earth (Synergetic Press, 2020), Philanthrocapitalism & The Erosion of Democracy: A Global Citizens Report on the Corporate Control of Technology, Health, and Agriculture (Synergetic Press, 2022) and Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture: Sustainable Solutions for Hunger, Poverty, and Climate Change (Synergetic Press, 2022).
Dr. Shiva is a member of the scientific committee of the Fundacion IDEAS, Spain's Socialist Party's think tank and the International Organization for a Participatory Society. She received the Right Livelihood Award in 1993, an honor known as an "Alternative Nobel Prize". She has received numerous other awards and honors for her work including the Save the World award in 2009 and the Sydney Peace Prize in 2010. Dr. Shivas life and work is the subject of the award-winning 2021 documentary, Seeds of Vandana Shiva.
Navdanya International promotes a new agricultural and economic paradigm, a culture of food for health, where ecological responsibility and economic justice replace the present greed, consumerism and competition which have become dominant in society. It aims at regaining the common good as a foundation for a renewed sense of community, solidarity and culture of peace. Co-Executive Director and Researcher, focusing on emerging technologies on human rights, biodiversity, equity, and food systems, ETC Group. Molecular Biologist and former Genetic Engineer. Currently Editor of Independent Science News website. Satish Kumar is an Indian British activist and speaker. He has been a Jain monk, nuclear disarmament advocate and pacifist. Hs is the founder of Schumacher College, England, UK. Timothy A. Wise is a senior researcher at the Small Planet Institute, collaborating with director Frances Moore Lappé to start its new Land and Food Rights Program. He is also a senior research fellow at Tufts University's Global Development and Environment Institute. He is a Senior Advisor at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)
