Abstract

BIANCO, Mariela. The value of the seed: intellectual property and capitalist accumulation. Rev. Cienc. Soc. [online]. 2015, vol.28, n.36, pp.37-54. ISSN 0797-5538.

With the expansion of modern agricultural biotechnologies, important changes occur regarding the strategies for the privatization of knowledge and the use and reproduction of seeds which open up new mechanisms for capitalist accumulation. Intellectual property rights based on patents and other forms of protection are the legal complement that makes possible a more efficient accumulation in current capitalism. In Uruguay, the expansion of protected seeds rests on legal norms regarding the use and commercialization of proprietary vegetable varieties as well as on the operation of a private association purposefully created to act in the promotion and defense of intellectual property rights associated to germplasm. The article examines the Uruguayan system in light of the concept of expropiacionism and in dialogue with the theory of cognitive capitalism which problematizes the central role of knowledge in the creation of value and therefore, in current capitalist accumulation.

Keywords : Intellectual property; capitalist accumulation; biotechnology; expropiacionism.

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