Globalization in Maine

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association has filed suit against the multinational food corporation (MNC) Monsanto, seeking injunction “against accusations of patent infringement in the case that their organic crops become contaminated by genetically modified (GM) seeds” (McCauley, “Organic Farmers on Alert”). According to the article published by CommonDreams.org, the Maine association is concerned about court rulings similar to Tuesday’s US Supreme Court announcement that held Vernon Bowman, a farmer from Indiana, responsible for patent infringement after he planted soybeans that had been grown from Monsanto seeds. According to the article, Monsanto has filed over 800 similar suits. As students of cultural studies, our class considered this example of globalization.

Monsanto appears to be attempting to possess the reproductive power of soybeans yet failing to control it. This desire to control not just the soybean seeds but also subsequent soybeans speaks to the failure of the Enlightenment project that seeks to dominate, in part by naming objects so they can be possessed (Barker, 2012). Monsanto appears to have successfully named the soybean seeds in such a way that the courts now serve as their apparatuses and the state is rendered impotent to protect individuals in the face of MNCs. Monsanto is privatizing genomes to the detriment of ordinary use and, in the process, has remodeled public and private values (Lemert & Elliott, 2006)

Monsanto has demonstrated control over when and how the soybean seeds and subsequent soybeans are used. Based on the work of Steven Shaviro (“Interstitial Life”), we observed that environments thrive on randomness, and we are concerned that if Monsanto homogenizes soybean sources, it will be tampering with environmental diversity.

Monsanto has not demonstrated control over where the soybeans reproduce, hence the Maine association’s concerns. Despite its efforts to disrupt the rhythms of plant reproduction with the rhythms of mass production, the rhythms of plant reproduction are disrupting the hegemonic force of the MNC (Rogers, 1994). 

Monsanto may be better suited to the rhythms of the US court system. As noted in the CommonDreams.org article, it has repeatedly engaged in the rhythms of suit and negotiation over 800 times. Farmers may be less familiar with these rhythms, learning about them individually. We are concerned that the legal rhythms may be punctuated by reductionist comments, such as Justice Kagan’s characterization of Bowman’s argument as “the blame-the-bean defense” (McCauley, “Organic Farmers on Alert”). The rhythm of Monsanto’s repeated suits against small farmers may yet be disrupted by Maine farmer’s “preemptive strike.”