Book Review: Trading the Genome: Investigating the Commodification of Bio-information
| Date | 01 September 2006 |
| Author | Gerard Porter |
| Published date | 01 September 2006 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0964663906066623 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
as lacking. Reasons for this include unrealistic goals of states (such as Mao Zedong’s
‘Great Leap Forward’) and the formulation of rationally derived coercive responses
to an irrationally conceived threat.
In the following chapter on torture, Green and Ward reflect on influences as diverse
as social psychological contexts, psycho-cultural constructions of masculinities and
the imposing will of political masters to explain the motivation of torturers before
turning to the culpability of the industries of torture. Here we learn of the extensive
manufacture of torture equipment in those Western states often most vociferous in
its condemnation. An additional feature of the ‘supply-side’ of torture listed is the
export of knowledge, as the United States Army School of the Americas (now called
the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Co-operation) and its alumni of
murderers demonstrates.
The analysis of genocide in Chapter 10 constitutes an essential primer in the subject.
Key debates in the field are reviewed, including Goldhagen’s ‘willing executioners’
versus Browning’s ‘ordinary men’, Bauman’s study of the Holocaust and modernity
and the seismic impact of Zimbardo and Milgram. As in the discussion on torturers,
here we are reminded of the chilling malleability of individuals evidenced through the
psychological ordinariness of the many genocidaires who employ complex strategies
of ‘distancing’ from their actions. In addition to these essential considerations, this
chapter also contains useful reference to more recent developments, such as Goure-
vitch’s outstanding work on Rwanda. Furthermore, attempts are made to ascertain
the value of criminological approaches, such as modernist subcultural theory and the
work of Sykes and Matza on neutralization, to understand genocide.
The emphasis on the importance of civil society in mediating state criminality is a
central theme of the book. Citing the way in which pressure from opposing social
movements have affected change in South Africa and across Eastern Europe, the
authors make the important point that ‘civil society has a much better record than
“humanitarian bombing” in bringing state crime under control’ (p. 209). This is
coupled with the argument that the reactions of protest movements and the mass
media to the death and suffering of civilians may cause the ‘US and its allies to think
twice before using their military high technology for new adventures’ (p. 164).
However, both the unprecedented UK anti-war movement and the disproportionate
recent media attention preferring to scrutinize the Prime Minister’s credibility rather
than the 30,000 civilian deaths in Iraq indicate a question mark may at least remain
over the influences of civil society on such manifestations of government policy.
Overall, this book does a commendable job in making sense of the volumes of text
on the malign activities of states. In doing so, it fulfils a number of functions. In one
respect it serves as an excellent primer covering key debates and encouraging further
investigation. More importantly, it represents an important analysis of an area that
criminology is belatedly taking seriously.
PETE FUSSEY
University of East London, UK
BRONWYN PARRY, Trading the Genome: Investigating the Commodification of Bio-
information. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004, 319 pp., £25.50 (hbk).
DOI: 10.1177/0964663906066623
It is estimated that around 25 per cent of all prescription drugs are derived from
plants and other natural materials. This represents a sizeable chunk of the global
pharmaceutical market, thought to be worth somewhere in the region of US$500
billion per year. Much of the ‘raw materials’ used in this lucrative industry will have
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