More Resources On Poverty, Globalization, & Development

In the Name of Development: Exploring Population, Poverty and Development
By Inter Pares

This pamphlet is an excellent refutation of the idea that population control is a development or anti-poverty strategy. It covers the topics of food security, environment, economic development, migration, and women's health and empowerment. Each section begins with some commonly held assumptions, followed by a list of provocative facts and statistics which challenge them. A critical analysis of each issue follows. This is an extremely useful tool for activists and teachers alike.

$6.00, or $4.50 per copy for ten or more copies, available from Inter Pares, 58 rue Arthur St., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1R 7B9; fax: 613-594-4704

The Women, Gender and Development Reader

Edited by Nalini Visvanathan, Lynne Duggan, Laurie Nisonoff and Nan Wiegersma

Third World women were long undervalued and ignored actors in the development process but are now recognized by scholars, practitioners and policy makers alike as playing a critical role. This book has been designed as a comprehensive reader for undergraduates and development practitioners, presenting the best of the now vast body of literature that has grown up alongside this acknowledgement. Five parts cover a review of the history of the theoretical debates, the status of women in the household and family, women in the global economy, the impacts of social changes on women's lives, and women organizing for change.

Available from Zed Books, Ltd., 7 Cynthia St., London N1 9JF, UK, Fax: 171-833-3960, L45 hardback; L15.95 paperback; and Humanities Press International, Inc., 165 First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716, USA, Fax: 908-872-0717, $65 hb, $25 pb.

Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge

by Vandana Shiva

While the New York Times breathlessly announces the "astonishing" cloning of a sheep named Dolly, award-winning scientist and activist Dr. Vandana Shiva argues that genetic engineering and cloning of organisms, far from being novel and socially useful, are the "ultimate expression of the commercialization of science and the commodification of nature."

Shiva describes the hidden history of genetically engineered organisms, from Herman, the transgenic dairy bull, to Tracy, the genetically engineered sheep "that lays golden eggs." She explains how the scientific advances in genetic engineering are the results of aggressive funding programs initially aimed at eugenics projects, and are designed to maximize profits for pharmaceutical and other companies. The reductionism and profit-orientation of the biotechnology industry, she writes, have profound ramifications for human health, the environment and the planet.

Available from South End Press, 116 Saint Botolph St., Boston, MA. 02115 for $14. To order, call 1-800-533-8478.