Civil society and the political economy of GMO failures in Canada: a neo-Gramscian analysis

-
Researcher: Peter Andree
Publisher: Routledge
Documentation: Environmental Politics

Despite the government of Canada’s close relationship with the biotechnology industry, critical social movement organisations have had a significant impact on the adoption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in that country. Two cases of products rejected after widespread resistance – recombinant bovine growth hormone (1999) and herbicide-tolerant Roundup Ready (RR) Wheat (2004) – are revisited. Informed by empirical research that brings to light new factors shaping the RR wheat outcome in particular, two theoretical arguments are advanced. First, in response to those critics of a neo-Gramscian framing of hegemony who see it as overlydeterministic, these cases highlight just how deeply alliances with hegemonic ambitions may be forced to compromise. Second, these cases demonstrate that any study of civil society must still pay close attention to institutional and material ‘relations of force’ when seeking to explain the impact of social movements on environmental governance.

Civil society dan ekonomi politik kegagalan GMO di Kanada: sebuah analisis neo-Gramsci

Meskipun pemerintah Kanada memiliki hubungan yang dekat dengan industri bioteknologi namun organisasi-organisasi sosial di negara tersebut juga memiliki pengaruh yang signifikan terhadap pengadaan organisme yang dimodifikasi secara genetik. Jurnal ini membahas dua kasus produk yang ditolak keberadaannya, yakni hormon pertumbuhan rekombinan (1999) dan gandum Roundup Ready yang toleran terhadap herbisida (2004). Dengan mendapatkan masukan dari riset empiris yang menghasilkan temuan tentang faktor-faktor baru yang ikut membentuk hasil gandum RR, penelitian ini menyimpulkan dua hal penting. Pertama, untuk merespon kritisi yang menganut pemikiran hegemoni aliran neo-Gramsci yang menganggapnya sebagai terlalu deterministik, kedua kasus tersebut mengungkap seberapa dalamnya keterkaitan dengan ambisi-ambisi hegemonik dapat diberi kompromi. Kedoa, kedua kasus menunjukkan bahwa setiap penelitian tentang civil society harus tetap memperhatikan 'hubungan faktor pendorong' institusional dan material pada saat berusaha menjelaskan pengaruh gerakan sosial yang terjadi terhadap tata kelola lingkungan.

Popular posts from this blog

Bureaucratic Issues in Indonesia

-
Reform experienced by Indonesia in 1998 has led to major change nationwide. The change took place as far as governmental administration process. Bureaucracy as part of the government’s job description, was also affected by the reform. The movement towards change required bureaucracy to be more neutral, transparent, responsive, and accountable, politically. Such demand has pushed the bureaucrats to create a new frame and characteristic building in answering their responsibility to fulfill the needs of people as their constituents. In practice, Indonesian bureaucracy truly needed more experience to anticipate this massive change. For example, there were still many handicaps in providing public services. This situation opposed to the previously idealized dream, a government as a good servant for the citizens. Many elements of the current government administration were reluctant to fulfill the people needs voluntarily. Bureaucracy, which initially aimed to simplify administration process,
Read more

Healthcare Waste in the United States Healthcare System

-
How America will pay for healthcare is a subject on the mind of virtually every American today. As Congress determines who will pick up the tab for this important and growing expense, it is worthwhile to take a close look at the cost of healthcare itself. Are there areas where expenses can be cut without undermining the quality of care provided? How prevalent are misuse, overuse, and fraud? This paper tackles the tangled issue of healthcare waste and arrives at some interesting, and perhaps even surprising, conclusions: America’s healthcare system is, indeed, hemorrhaging billions of dollars, and the opportunities to slow the fiscal bleeding are substantial. To organize the evidence supporting claims for the magnitude of waste in the healthcare system,we first suggest a set of categories of waste. For each category, there is a simple definition, a brief description of the examples, and references that allow us to make a reasonable assessment of total annual waste for each category. Ca
Read more

A study of drinking water quality of PDAM

-
One of problems faced by community dealing with water services provided by the State-owned Water Company (PDAM) is inadequacy of the services in fulfilling household needs. Customers often complain because this limited volume of water they can use for daily activities, such the research found in a service quality analysis of drinking water provided by PDAM. The study on service quality may have its cornerstones on three main aspects: the quality, quantity, and continuity.  In case of drinking water quality at the observed location, one should relate it to the quality threshold under the Letter of Decree of the Minister of Health Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Kepmenkes RI, No.907/MENKES/SK/VII 2002, which has been applicable since July 28, 2002. In addition, there is also another technique of analysis to measure the water quality level by examining water debit, water pressure, and flow continuity. However, to deal with PDAM’s vision and mission, service quality analysis is lik
Read more