Living Factories: Biotechnology and the Unique Nature of Capitalism PDF
Preview Living Factories: Biotechnology and the Unique Nature of Capitalism
Living Factories Living Factories Biotechnology and the Unique Nature of Capitalism kenneth fish McGill-Queen’s University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca For Tracy © McGill-Queen’s University Press 2013 ISBN 978-0-7735-4084-2 isbn (epdf) 978-0-7735-8801-1 Legal deposit frst quarter 2013 Bibliothèque nationale du Québec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free (100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free This book has been published with the help of a grant from the University of Winnipeg. McGill-Queen’s University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the fnancial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Fish, Kenneth, 1971– Living factories: biotechnology and the unique nature of capitalism / Kenneth Fish. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7735-4084-2 1. Biotechnology industries. 2. Genetic engineering – Economic aspects. 3. Capitalism – Social aspects. 4. Environmental sociology. I. Title. HD9999.B442F58 2012 338.4'76606 C2012-905772-X This book was typeset by Interscript in 10.5/13 Sabon. Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction: Of Spider-Goats and Mechanical Monsters 3 1 Marx and the Unique Nature of Industrial Capitalism 26 2 Conceptualizing Living Factories 46 3 Harnessing Life Itself as a Productive Force 62 4 Breaking the Machine Metaphor: The Difference that Life Makes 90 5 The Conscious Organ of the Living Factory 114 6 The Meaning of Marx’s Organic Metaphors 143 7 Living Factories and the Materiality of Capitalism 161 Conclusion: Towards a Bright Green Marxism? 179 Notes 191 References 203 Index 217 Acknowledgments This book began as a PhD dissertation completed at Carleton Uni- versity in Ottawa. I would like to thank Kyla Madden and everyone else at McGill-Queen’s University Press for their help in the trans- formation from thesis to book. Thanks also to James Thomas for his excellent copy-editing and to the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and criticisms. Parts of Chapter 1 and the C onclusion were previously published in Fish, K. 2011. “Machine Systems and the Unique Nature of Industrial Capitalism.” Critical Sociology 37(1): 125–43. I would like to thank everyone at Carleton in both the Depart- ment of Sociology and Anthropology and the Institute of Political Economy for providing an intellectually stimulating environment for my graduate studies. Thanks to my thesis supervisor, Wallace Clement, for his warmth, encouragement, and continuous support. I am grateful to the other members of my committee, Neil Gerlach and Carlos Novas, for providing comments on the dissertation that helped me clarify and strengthen the argument. Others who helped me along the way at Carleton include Vincent Mosco, Simon Dalby, Vivian Shalla, Jeff Francis, and Dwayne Winseck. My time in O ttawa would not have been the same without the friendship of Willow Scobie and Al Vachon. Thanks to Willow and Al for the long, long conversations and also to Janet Siltanen for providing research opportunities and a smile that always made everything seem okay. Most of the transformation from thesis to book took place in Vancouver, bc. I want especially to thank my teacher and friend Gary Teeple at Simon Fraser University. I was fortunate to meet Gary early in my academic career and he continues to challenge me, viii Acknowledgments intellectually and otherwise. Thanks as well to Darren and Melissa Moi and all of my other friends in Vancouver for providing much needed distractions. Thanks also to the members of the formidable rock ’n’ roll juggernaut Boomchang – Chris Fowlie, Bob Fowlie, and Tim Vogel – for giving me the chance to live my rock star dream. The fnishing touches were put on the book in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Thanks to the faculty and staff in the Department of Sociology at the University of Winnipeg for a warm reception. My family has always been a source of unfinching support and I would like to thank Mac, Rita, and Jennifer Fish, and my grand- mother, Phyllis House. And a big thanks to Maclean, Keaton, and Zoe, who can now see what Dad’s been doing all this time. Living Factories 25023_FISH.indb 1 12-12-03 9:21 AM
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