savoy011

Moderator’s Note: This is the third of a selection of student research notes and essays prepared for a political ecology seminar I taught during the just completed fall quarter (Sept-Dec.). The course involved serious reading loads and weekly writings aimed at the development of analytical and critical skills. All students prepared eight (8) critical reading summaries. They also produced the essays and other contributions presented here which are synthesized from quarter-long topical research projects and presented in the form of a series of thematic posts related to the field of political ecology. Some of the posts are autobiographical and draw from personal life histories and experiences but these are not empty exercises in navel gazing. Most of these students are part of the so-called Millennial Generation and they seem to me more like critical realists than alienated narcissists, and not because it is an intellectual fad but as a matter of historical and structural circumstances. ...

UPDATE: Upon further review of a second press release and correspondence with colleagues in Mexico City, San Diego, California, and  Seattle,Washington, I have decided to use a different post headline. It is more accurate to state that a federal judge suspended transgenic corn plantings rather than to imply a nationwide ban. That may be a future possibility but is not the nature of this particular ruling. It was not my intent to  mislead but the original post heading was careless.  However, the original and still unedited title of the post accurately reflects what the first press release made clear and that is simply that a federal judge in Mexico City issued a temporary restraining order involving  the suspension of new plantings of transgenic maize  as part of a fairly narrow legal opinion ruling to allow for the resolution of several pending lawsuits that will affect federal law on TRIPs, biosafety, and perhaps even the preservation of biocultural diversity i...