Botanical imperialism: The Stewardship of Plant Genetic Resources in the Third World

Abstract

This paper explores the social history of plant use from early European expansion to the present. The concept of "Botanical Imperialism" is used to link issues of ecology and development. Specifically, it addresses the appropriation, control, and economic use of plant cultigens in the context of the capitalist world system. Notions of colonial stewardship and Western property rights are analyzed as the ideological underpinnings of Botanical Imperialism. The paper then examines the relationship between the political economy, modern agronomy, and the development of hybrids by petrochemical monopolies, and the implications of these for issues of overproduction, underdevelopment, species extinction, and global environmental destruction.