The corporate shaping of GM crops as a technology for the poor

The status of international agricultural research as a global public good (GPG) has been widely accepted since the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. While the term was not used at the time of its creation, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system that evolved at that time has been described as a ‘prime example of the promise, performance and perils of an international approach to providing GPGs’. Contemporary literature on international agricultural research as a GPG tends to support this view and focuses on how to operationalize the concept. This paper adopts a different starting point and questions this conceptualization of the CGIAR and its outputs. It questions the appropriateness of such a ‘neutral’ concept to a system born of the imperatives of Cold War geopolitics, and shaped by a history of attempts to secure its relevance in a changing world. This paper draws on a multi-sited, ethnographic study of a research effort highlighted by the CGIAR as an exemplar of GPG-oriented research. Behind the ubiquitous language of GPGs, ‘partnership’ and ‘consensus’, however, new forms of exclusion and restriction are emerging within everyday practice, reproducing North–South inequalities and undermining the ability of these programmes to respond to the needs of projected beneficiaries.     

Agrarian structure,foreign investment in land,and land prices in Brazil

The recent global rush for farmland in Latin America has produced a dramatic increase in the level of foreign investment in land in Brazil. The current trend accentuates the ongoing process of foreignization of agriculture associated with the production of grains, sugar, ethanol and other commodities, increasing land prices. In response, the Brazilian government reestablished a legal mechanism for ‘controlling’ land-based foreign investment which has proven neither efficient nor effective in solving land concentration. This paper examines this issue by analyzing the causes of the increase in investment as well as the consequences of this process with respect to land prices, critically situating land-based investments and the government's policy response in a broader discussion of the demands of agrarian social movements.     

完善女职工权益保护专项集体合同制度探析

当前,在推进签订女职工权益保护专项集体合同工作方面,存在地区发展不平衡等诸多问题。运用人权理论分析,这项制度有其存在的必要性。提高人权意识、完善女职工权益保护专项集体合同制度是落实妇女生存权和发展权等基本人权的重要手段。     

论邓小平哲学思维方法的特征

邓小平的哲学思想具有尊重实践、注重系统和关注未来的特征.尊重实践是对传统思维方法的反思与批判;注重系统是对辩证思维方法的丰富和发展;关注未来是对现代思维方法的构建和充实.     

2000年政治经济学和社会主义经济理论热点问题研究综述

2000年政治经济学和社会主义经济理论热点问题集中在关于深化对劳动和劳动价值论的认识;公有制在社会主义制度中的地位;社会主义经济和有中国特色的社会主义经济的关系;政治经济学基本理论和方法的坚持与发展等几个方面.在研究和探讨中,见仁见智,推动了对相关问题的深入认识和理解.     

理解环境意识的真实内涵——一种哲学维度的思考

环境意识从本质上说是人的哲学意识的理论表达,它反映的是人类主体实践活动的超越性与生存环境有限性的予盾.应当超越常识的态度、科学的态度,从人本身以及人与自然的实质性关系去把握和理解环境意识的真实内涵.     

文化新世纪与人类新千年

人类文化的发展,从宏观上看已经历了自然文化和科学文化这两个文化千年.在21世纪的今天,人类极有希望建构以生命为核心的文化新千年,从而实现人类文明的整体性跃迁.     

关于按生产要素分配的经济学思考

按生产要素分配实质上是按投入生产过程的各生产要素在生产过程中的贡献进行收益分配,其理论依据是使用价值论.在社会主义市场经济条件下,以价值论和使用价值论为依据,坚持按劳分配与按生产要素分配相结合,是对马克思主义经济理论的坚持和发展.     

增强全民法律意识的基本途径

全民法律意识亟待增强。加强立法和提高立法质量,切实执法,开展“普法”教育活动,进行经常性的法制宣传,强化执法监督,提倡讲案学法,加强法律教育和法学研究,等等,都能有效增强全民法律意识。     

中国如何应对经济全球化的冲击

21世纪是经济全球化的世纪,每一个国家都以积极的姿态迎接经济全球化的挑战.中国应保持清醒的头脑,融入经济全球化进程,勇敢迎接挑战,借经济全球化的契机,大力推进经济结构调整,发展开放型的经济,壮大自身实力,才能扭转自己在经济全球化中的劣势地位,才能应对经济全球化带来的挑战和冲击.