Contested Development (Geography) and the Research Group on International Political Economy (International Development, Geography, and European & International Studies) are happy to announce the publication of Mutant Ecologies: Manufacturing Life in the Age of Genomic Capital, written by Erica Borg (PhD Student, Geography) and Amedeo Policante (Nova University of Lisbon).

To celebrate, we will launch the book and an exhibition on the 23rd of November, between 4pm and 7pm.

 

There will be discussion between scholars based in the Departments of International Development, Geography, and European and International Studies, surrounded by an exhibition of art produced for the book by Asbjørn Skou. Everyone is welcome to participate in the conversations. Refreshments will be served.

 

About the book

Mutant Ecologies traces the spinning of new synthetic threads into the web of life. It is a critical cartography of the shifting landscapes of capital accumulation conjured by recent developments in genomic science, genome editing and the biotech industry.

CRISPR crops, fast-growing salmons, heat-resistant Slick™ cows, Friendly™ Mosquitoes, humanised mice, pigs growing human organs – these are but a few of the dazzling new life-forms that have recently emerged from corporate and university laboratories around the world, all promising to lubricate the circuits of capital accumulation in distinct ways. The deliberate induction of genetic mutations is increasingly central to business operations in a number of sectors, from agriculture to pharmaceuticals.

While the Nobel Committee recently proclaimed the life sciences to have entered 'a new epoch', the authors show how these technological innovations continue to operate within a socio-historical context defined by the iron rules of capitalist competition and exploitation. Capital no longer contents itself with simply appropriating the living bodies of plants and animals. It purposefully designs their internal metabolism, and in that way it redesigns the countless living vectors that constitute the global biosphere. It is driving a biological revolution, which will ripple through the everyday lives of people everywhere.

About the authors

Erica Borg is a geographer and political ecologist based at King's College, London. Their research focuses on the relations between capitalism, colonialism, patriarchy and ecological crisis.

Amedeo Policante is a Researcher at the Nova University of Lisbon. His writings interrogate the nexus of extraction, exploitation and expropriation that fuels the contemporary world market. He is the author of two books: The Pirate Myth and The New Mercenaries.