Genetically Modified Diplomacy

An exceptionally well written, theoretically sophisticated, and timely book. Andree has provided an important service to readers who have an interest in understanding in fine detail the complex nature of environmental politics in a globalizing world. -- Michael D. Mehta, Director of the Sociology of Biotechnology Program, University of Saskatchewan, and editor of Biotechnology Unglued: Science, Society, and Social Cohesion

This book traces the emergence of the 2000 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety – and the discourse of precaution toward GEOs that the protocol institutionalized internationally.

When genetically engineered seeds were first deployed in theAmericas in the mid-1990s, the biotechnology industry and its partnersenvisaged a world in which their crops would be widely accepted as thefood of the future. Critics, however, raised a variety of social,environmental, economic, and health concerns. This book traces theemergence of the 2000 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety – andthe discourse of precaution toward GEOs that the protocolinstitutionalized internationally. Peter Andrée explains this reversalin the "common-sense" understanding of genetic engineering,and discusses the new debates it has engendered.