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Open Source Seeds and the Revitalization of Local Knowledge

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  • Martin Fredriksson

    (Department for Culture and Society, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden)

Abstract

This article engages with the resistance against the global erosion of seed diversity following the modernization and industrialization of agriculture over the 20th century. This resistance spans from local farming communities that preserve and safeguard traditional landraces to international movements which oppose proprietary seed regulations and promote free sharing of seeds. The article focuses on the latter and presents a study of the open source seed movement: an initiative to apply strategies from the open source software movement to ensure the free circulation of seeds. The erosion of seed diversity can be seen not only as a loss of genetic diversity but also a memory loss where traditional, collective knowledge about how to grow certain landraces is forgotten. Consequently, the open source seed movement is not only about saving seeds but also about preserving and revitalizing local and traditional ecological knowledge against privatization and enclosure through intellectual property rights. The aim of this article is, thus, to analyze the open source seed movement as an act of revitalization in relation to intellectual property rights and in the context of information politics.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Fredriksson, 2021. "Open Source Seeds and the Revitalization of Local Knowledge," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-16, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:12270-:d:673748
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Claire H Luby & Irwin L Goldman, 2016. "Freeing Crop Genetics through the Open Source Seed Initiative," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-6, April.
    2. Johannes Kotschi & Bernd Horneburg, 2018. "The Open Source Seed Licence: A novel approach to safeguarding access to plant germplasm," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(10), pages 1-7, October.
    3. Martin Fredriksson Almqvist, 2016. "Piracy and the Politics of Social Media," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-12, August.
    4. Tarleton Gillespie, 2007. "Wired Shut: Copyright and the Shape of Digital Culture," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262072823, April.
    5. Johanna Dahlin & Elin Svensson, 2021. "Revitalizing Traditional Agricultural Practices: Conscious Efforts to Create a More Satisfying Culture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-16, October.
    6. Claire H. Luby & Irwin L. Goldman, 2016. "Improving Freedom to Operate in Carrot Breeding through the Development of Eight Open Source Composite Populations of Carrot ( Daucus carota L. var. sativus )," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-14, May.
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