Traditional Knowledge, Western Science, and discrimination within the Intellectuals Property Rights on plant genetic resources.

Walckiers, Pierre
(2024) IASC Early Career Network (ECN) Workshop 2024 on The Study of Commons 27th, 28th and 29th May 2024 — Location: Online (27.May.2024)

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Embedded in the philosophy of law and science, this contribution will analyze and critique a form of discrimination in the types of knowledge protected by intellectual property rights (IPR). Advocating for the recommoning of our agri-food systems, we will focus specifically on patents and the protection of plant varieties. IPR are politically justified from a utilitarian perspective to “promote the progress of science and useful arts” (U.S. Constitution). In principle, a patent is an exclusive right granted to an inventor for their invention, justifying a form of protection to encourage development and innovation, compensating for research expenses. However, for several authors, IPR are exclusively designed for a “western specific” idea of property, as well as a romantic and Western vision of innovation: authorship, individual creation, which does not allow for the inclusion of common, cultural, traditional, and generational knowledge. The study condemns the disregard of IPR for traditional knowledge and innovations of indigenous people and local communities, highlighting the role of IPR in devaluing traditional knowledge only to expropriate it once translated into Western-type innovations. International and European IPR rules applicable to plant genetic resources and biotechnology are described and compared tools protecting traditional knowledge (that are only indirectly protected). Facing this epistemic injustice, these articles aim to promote epistemic inclusivity, drawing on arguments derived from the Human Right to Science and non-discrimination. As argued, the human right to science could facilitate redefining “good science” in a pluralistic, inclusive, and decolonial manner.
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Walckiers, P. (2024). Traditional Knowledge, Western Science, and discrimination within the Intellectuals Property Rights on plant genetic resources. IASC Early Career Network (ECN) Workshop 2024 on The Study of Commons 27th, 28th and 29th May 2024, Online. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/214018