Abstract

ORTEGA-VILLEGAS, María N.; ZIZUMBO-VILLARREAL, Lilia; MONTERROSO-SALVATIERRA, Neptalí  and  HERNANDEZ-LARA, Oliver G.. Seed and Transgenic Maize Laws: Analysis from the Coproduction between Science and Economic-Political Regimes in Mexico. agric. soc. desarro [online]. 2018, vol.15, n.3, pp.413-442. ISSN 1870-5472.

The diet and what is related to it are important elements for the study of the civilizing crisis that we are experiencing. Phenomena like erosion of biodiversity, diseases from the use of pesticides, and collateral effects of transgenic technology, among many others, are related to a lifestyle that alters the body and the environment. Presently, industrial agriculture is the dominant form of production and this gravely increases the environmental crisis. Within this context, laws play an important role in the comprehension of changes in human relationship with nature and food production. In Mexico, seed laws have changed from the Fordism Regime to the Neoliberal Regime, and technology has played an important role in this. Therefore, the objective of this article was to analyze the seed and transgenic maize laws as elements of the coproduction between scientific-technological development and economic-political regimes in Mexico, both as important elements in the phenomenon of commercialization of life. The study focuses on understanding how the coproduction relationship unfolds between the two elements mentioned, through a historical study of changes in seed laws from the Fordist Regime to the Neoliberal Regime. The article shows how it is that commercialization alters the relationship between humans and their environment and, supported by laws, fosters a form of food production that participates actively in the civilizing crisis.

Keywords : coproduction; maize; commercialization of life; seed laws; transgenic organisms.