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3
courses on bioprospecting. This implies that the narratives have played important
roles for decisions and structures about bioprospecting. We argue that it is important that researchers and students critically examine the empirical basis of leading
discourses and thereby investigate the exercise of discursive power.
3.7 Tracking American Gene Hunters in Tanzania
In 1995, Shaman Pharmaceuticals organized a collection expedition to Tanzania.
When one of us considered cases of bioprospecting to study, one of the company
directors recommended this particular case. He was kind enough to send us the
manuscript of an article about the expedition and its activities (Richter et al.
undated). The manuscript contained a clear win-win narrative on bioprospecting.
We took the director at his word, and in 1998, we followed the expedition’s ‘jeep
tracks’ in an area in the Kilimanjaro region. In our field work, we interviewed traditional healers and traditional midwives who had taken part in Shaman’s bioprospecting and compared our finds with Shaman’s account (Svarstad 2000, 2003,
2005).
During the collection, the expedition team had sought out people they assumed
to have used their own plant remedies to treat patients, and they were asked if they
used any such remedies to treat three particular diseases. Those who answered
‘yes’ were asked for further details on the plants involved, and finally the bioprospectors collected plant samples to send to Shaman’s laboratory in California for
analysis.
Shaman’s narrative presented a successful and harmonious cooperation
between external and local participants as equal partners. According to the manuscript, the company created economic equality and reciprocity. It donated a total
of 6500 US dollars to local causes. In the area of our field work, the donation went
to building materials for a centre for the district association of traditional healers
and traditional midwives. In another area, the donation funded equipment for clinics and schools in the five villages involved. In addition, each of the local participants was paid five dollars a day. Furthermore, Shaman donated 14,000 dollars to
the governmental Institute of Traditional Medicine, the Tanzanian research institute that had been involved.
The company also presented their intentions to donate funds to all its collaborating partners in various countries if their bioprospecting would result in income
from sales of new products. Those donations were never made, as Shaman a few
years later went bankrupt. Some of the other donations must be regarded as immediate payments for purchase of services.
On fieldwork in 1998, we found that the donation to the centre for traditional
healers and traditional midwives had been made. However, the payment was insufficient to finish the centre, and the district association failed to find other donors.
A small brick house was built halfway and then let decay. We interviewed many of
the traditional healers in the area to learn about their opinions of the bioprospecting
by Shaman Pharmaceuticals. Most of the interviewees provided ambivalent
Chapter 3 · Discourses and Narratives on Environment and Development: The Example…
3
courses on bioprospecting. This implies that the narratives have played important
roles for decisions and structures about bioprospecting. We argue that it is important that researchers and students critically examine the empirical basis of leading
discourses and thereby investigate the exercise of discursive power.
3.7 Tracking American Gene Hunters in Tanzania
In 1995, Shaman Pharmaceuticals organized a collection expedition to Tanzania.
When one of us considered cases of bioprospecting to study, one of the company
directors recommended this particular case. He was kind enough to send us the
manuscript of an article about the expedition and its activities (Richter et al.
undated). The manuscript contained a clear win-win narrative on bioprospecting.
We took the director at his word, and in 1998, we followed the expedition’s ‘jeep
tracks’ in an area in the Kilimanjaro region. In our field work, we interviewed traditional healers and traditional midwives who had taken part in Shaman’s bioprospecting and compared our finds with Shaman’s account (Svarstad 2000, 2003,
2005).
During the collection, the expedition team had sought out people they assumed
to have used their own plant remedies to treat patients, and they were asked if they
used any such remedies to treat three particular diseases. Those who answered
‘yes’ were asked for further details on the plants involved, and finally the bioprospectors collected plant samples to send to Shaman’s laboratory in California for
analysis.
Shaman’s narrative presented a successful and harmonious cooperation
between external and local participants as equal partners. According to the manuscript, the company created economic equality and reciprocity. It donated a total
of 6500 US dollars to local causes. In the area of our field work, the donation went
to building materials for a centre for the district association of traditional healers
and traditional midwives. In another area, the donation funded equipment for clinics and schools in the five villages involved. In addition, each of the local participants was paid five dollars a day. Furthermore, Shaman donated 14,000 dollars to
the governmental Institute of Traditional Medicine, the Tanzanian research institute that had been involved.
The company also presented their intentions to donate funds to all its collaborating partners in various countries if their bioprospecting would result in income
from sales of new products. Those donations were never made, as Shaman a few
years later went bankrupt. Some of the other donations must be regarded as immediate payments for purchase of services.
On fieldwork in 1998, we found that the donation to the centre for traditional
healers and traditional midwives had been made. However, the payment was insufficient to finish the centre, and the district association failed to find other donors.
A small brick house was built halfway and then let decay. We interviewed many of
the traditional healers in the area to learn about their opinions of the bioprospecting
by Shaman Pharmaceuticals. Most of the interviewees provided ambivalent
Chapter 3 · Discourses and Narratives on Environment and Development: The Example…