Living Factories: Biotechnology and the Unique Nature of Capitalism

233 Pages·2013·1.52 MB·English

by  Kenneth Fish

Living Factories
Living Factories
Biotechnology and the Unique
Nature of Capitalism
kenneth fish
McGill-Queen’s University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca
For Tracy
© McGill-Queen’s University Press 2013
ISBN 978-0-7735-4084-2
isbn (epdf) 978-0-7735-8801-1
Legal deposit frst quarter 2013
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free
(100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the University
of Winnipeg.
McGill-Queen’s University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada
Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the
fnancial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book
Fund for our publishing activities.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Fish, Kenneth, 1971–
Living factories: biotechnology and the unique nature of capitalism /
Kenneth Fish.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7735-4084-2
1. Biotechnology industries. 2. Genetic engineering – Economic aspects.
3. Capitalism – Social aspects. 4. Environmental sociology. I. Title.
HD9999.B442F58 2012 338.4'76606 C2012-905772-X
This book was typeset by Interscript in 10.5/13 Sabon.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: Of Spider-Goats and Mechanical Monsters 3
1 Marx and the Unique Nature of Industrial Capitalism 26
2 Conceptualizing Living Factories 46
3 Harnessing Life Itself as a Productive Force 62
4 Breaking the Machine Metaphor: The Difference
that Life Makes 90
5 The Conscious Organ of the Living Factory 114
6 The Meaning of Marx’s Organic Metaphors 143
7 Living Factories and the Materiality of Capitalism 161
Conclusion: Towards a Bright Green Marxism? 179
Notes 191
References 203
Index 217
Acknowledgments
This book began as a PhD dissertation completed at Carleton Uni-
versity in Ottawa. I would like to thank Kyla Madden and everyone
else at McGill-Queen’s University Press for their help in the trans-
formation from thesis to book. Thanks also to James Thomas for
his excellent copy-editing and to the two anonymous reviewers for
their insightful comments and criticisms. Parts of Chapter 1 and the
C onclusion were previously published in Fish, K. 2011. “Machine
Systems and the Unique Nature of Industrial Capitalism.” Critical
Sociology 37(1): 125–43.
I would like to thank everyone at Carleton in both the Depart-
ment of Sociology and Anthropology and the Institute of Political
Economy for providing an intellectually stimulating environment
for my graduate studies. Thanks to my thesis supervisor, Wallace
Clement, for his warmth, encouragement, and continuous support. I
am grateful to the other members of my committee, Neil Gerlach
and Carlos Novas, for providing comments on the dissertation that
helped me clarify and strengthen the argument. Others who helped
me along the way at Carleton include Vincent Mosco, Simon Dalby,
Vivian Shalla, Jeff Francis, and Dwayne Winseck. My time in O ttawa
would not have been the same without the friendship of Willow
Scobie and Al Vachon. Thanks to Willow and Al for the long, long
conversations and also to Janet Siltanen for providing research
opportunities and a smile that always made everything seem okay.
Most of the transformation from thesis to book took place in
Vancouver, bc. I want especially to thank my teacher and friend
Gary Teeple at Simon Fraser University. I was fortunate to meet
Gary early in my academic career and he continues to challenge me,
viii Acknowledgments
intellectually and otherwise. Thanks as well to Darren and Melissa
Moi and all of my other friends in Vancouver for providing much
needed distractions. Thanks also to the members of the formidable
rock ’n’ roll juggernaut Boomchang – Chris Fowlie, Bob Fowlie, and
Tim Vogel – for giving me the chance to live my rock star dream.
The fnishing touches were put on the book in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Thanks to the faculty and staff in the Department of Sociology at the
University of Winnipeg for a warm reception.
My family has always been a source of unfinching support and I
would like to thank Mac, Rita, and Jennifer Fish, and my grand-
mother, Phyllis House. And a big thanks to Maclean, Keaton, and
Zoe, who can now see what Dad’s been doing all this time.
Living Factories
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