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3.6 Back to Hollywood
If we go back to the Medicine Man, we can see that the film contains a main story
that to a large extent is in accordance with the metanarrative of the win-win discourse. At the same time, the film also has a subplot on biopiracy. In the main plot,
the bioprospectors work for two worthy causes. They strive to contribute to finding
a medicine that will benefit cancer patients round the world. They also act as conservationists who try to prevent destruction of the rainforest in order to develop a
cancer medicine as well as sustain the livelihoods of the indigenous group in the
area. This group and their old medicine man are depicted as possessors of knowledge on biological resources of value to the entire world.
The details that gradually are revealed about Dr. Campbell’s previous quest for
medicine in a neighbouring tribe are in accordance with the metanarrative on
biopiracy. The indigenous people there had a medicine that the American pharmaceutical company took advantage of and made a large profit from. For the local
tribe the outcome was as adverse as it could be, as contact with the bioprospectors
resulted in their contracting a disease from which all died.
It is interesting to see how the Hollywood movie in this way managed to employ
principal aspects of both the two leading discourses on bioprospecting.
Investigating Reality Claims of Discourses and Narratives
How shall we deal with reality? We could put it in quotation marks and otherwise
leave it to others to investigate. Regrettably, this is what some scholars engaged in
studies of social constructions do. In political ecology, however, this should not be
an alternative. One of the central aspects of this approach is to link social constructivist and realist knowledge (see the fifth synthesis in 7 Chap. 1). We believe
that it is particularly important to compare the social constructions on a topic that
powerful actors produce with our own investigations of the same topic. This may
involve case studies of actual practices, such as how bioprospecting takes place
and with what consequences, or how conservation is carried out. It may also
involve studies of the views among local communities, or investigations of particular aspects of natural conditions.
In our own research, we have found that both the win-win and the biopiracy
narratives on bioprospecting have basic weaknesses. The producers of win-win
narratives usually possess much knowledge of the various cases they present,
because they have often been involved in the bioprospecting themselves. However,
they do have clear interests in emphasizing positive aspects. Consequently, descriptions of harmonious cooperation and just distribution of benefits have often been
exaggerated. On the other hand, many biopiracy narratives have been produced by
actors with inadequate knowledge of the cases they describe. Despite these
weaknesses, both win-win narratives and biopiracy narratives have through several
decades been important for the production of the polarized couple of leading dis3.6 · Back to Hollywood
3
3.6 Back to Hollywood
If we go back to the Medicine Man, we can see that the film contains a main story
that to a large extent is in accordance with the metanarrative of the win-win discourse. At the same time, the film also has a subplot on biopiracy. In the main plot,
the bioprospectors work for two worthy causes. They strive to contribute to finding
a medicine that will benefit cancer patients round the world. They also act as conservationists who try to prevent destruction of the rainforest in order to develop a
cancer medicine as well as sustain the livelihoods of the indigenous group in the
area. This group and their old medicine man are depicted as possessors of knowledge on biological resources of value to the entire world.
The details that gradually are revealed about Dr. Campbell’s previous quest for
medicine in a neighbouring tribe are in accordance with the metanarrative on
biopiracy. The indigenous people there had a medicine that the American pharmaceutical company took advantage of and made a large profit from. For the local
tribe the outcome was as adverse as it could be, as contact with the bioprospectors
resulted in their contracting a disease from which all died.
It is interesting to see how the Hollywood movie in this way managed to employ
principal aspects of both the two leading discourses on bioprospecting.
Investigating Reality Claims of Discourses and Narratives
How shall we deal with reality? We could put it in quotation marks and otherwise
leave it to others to investigate. Regrettably, this is what some scholars engaged in
studies of social constructions do. In political ecology, however, this should not be
an alternative. One of the central aspects of this approach is to link social constructivist and realist knowledge (see the fifth synthesis in 7 Chap. 1). We believe
that it is particularly important to compare the social constructions on a topic that
powerful actors produce with our own investigations of the same topic. This may
involve case studies of actual practices, such as how bioprospecting takes place
and with what consequences, or how conservation is carried out. It may also
involve studies of the views among local communities, or investigations of particular aspects of natural conditions.
In our own research, we have found that both the win-win and the biopiracy
narratives on bioprospecting have basic weaknesses. The producers of win-win
narratives usually possess much knowledge of the various cases they present,
because they have often been involved in the bioprospecting themselves. However,
they do have clear interests in emphasizing positive aspects. Consequently, descriptions of harmonious cooperation and just distribution of benefits have often been
exaggerated. On the other hand, many biopiracy narratives have been produced by
actors with inadequate knowledge of the cases they describe. Despite these
weaknesses, both win-win narratives and biopiracy narratives have through several
decades been important for the production of the polarized couple of leading dis3.6 · Back to Hollywood