AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

“Somos semillas” — we are seeds is a slogan, a sentiment, and a belief that emerges and circulates in a myriad of spaces from Ferguson Black Lives Matter protests advocating for racial justice in the United States, to struggles against state violence in Ayotzinapa, Mexico, to climate justice and food sovereignty movements in Latin America. Seeds are both symbolic and material embodiments of futurity. In this dissertation, I examine the discourses around seeds, particularly genetically modified seeds (GM), and the role of biotechnology as our only purveyor of futurity. In “Seeds,” I examine the dominant discourses around GM seeds produced by pro-GM actors such as agro-industries including Monsanto and Syngenta, and USDAID programs such as Feed the Future. These discourses are constructed around social and environmental looming crises that include hunger and overpopulation, loss of biodiversity and climate change. In “Seeds,” thinking through the decolonial option, I challenge the single Western narrative that presents GM seeds and crops as the only path to solve these crises and for humanity to have a utopian future. “Seeds” takes on a ‘studying up’ approach that as scholar Laura Nader argues investigates those in power instead of those that are being oppressed. “Seeds” then works alongside other academic, indigenous, [email protected]/* */, and farmer intellectuals and activists to elucidate a number of ways that people around the world are engaging with such crises and are building different paths to decolonial futures.