Knowledge as Commons - by Prabir Purkayastha

About the Book

"Knowledge as Commons traces the historical path towards the privatization of knowledge, situating science, technology and the emergence of modern nations in a larger historical framework. Author Prabir Purkayastha asks: Do the needs of society drive science and technology? Or do developments in science and technology provide the motor force of history? Has this relationship changed over time? Purkayastha shows us that, with profit as its sole aim, capital claims to own human knowledge and its products, fencing them in with patents and intellectual property rights. Neoliberal institutions and policy diktats from the West have installed a global system in which knowledge, that limitless resource, is made artificially scarce-while limited resources such as water and clean air are treated as though they were infinite"--

Book Synopsis

A powerful contribution to the debate on intellectual property

Knowledge as Commons traces the historical path towards the privatization of knowledge, situating science, technology and the emergence of modern nations in a larger historical framework. Author Prabir Purkayastha asks: Do the needs of society drive science and technology? Or do developments in science and technology provide the motor force of history? Has this relationship changed over time? Purkayastha shows us that, with profit as its sole aim, capital claims to own human knowledge and its products, fencing them in with patents and intellectual property rights. Neoliberal institutions and policy diktats from the West have installed a global system in which knowledge, that limitless resource, is made artificially scarce--while limited resources such as water and clean air are treated as though they were infinite.

Arguing that rapid technological change, from pharmaceuticals to electronics, should be an opportunity to deliver quicker cures, affordable access, and global cooperation in the production of knowledge, Purkayastha examines the consequences of this privatization for universities, healthcare, distributive justice, the domestic politics of developing countries, and their prospects vis-à-vis the West.

Review Quotes

"Prabir Purkayastha's writing bridges science, technology and societal issues by underlining concerns regarding sharing knowledge, not patenting it, and drawing people to own this knowledge."--Vineeta Bal, National Institute of Immunology, Bombay; formerly, task force for Women in Science, Ministry of Science and Technology

"Uncommonly well written, this important book by Prabir Purkayastha covers much ground--a lot of it new--on the social role of science and technology in India."--Ram Ramaswamy, Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemistry, IIT-Delhi; formerly, School of Physical Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University