GENETICALLY MODIFIED

DEMOCRACY
BY
ANIKET AGA

NAME: YOGESH BYADWAL

ID:LLB/2841/26

SUBJECT: SOCIOLOGY 2
 Genetically modified democracy: Transgenic Crops in Contemporary India, Aniket Aga, Yale
University Press, 2021, 0300262582

One confronts innovation that proclaims itself to be promising in an ever-advancing world. The in-
novation is, in turn, almost always a response to an impending crisis the world is facing, be it cli-
mate change or global hunger. Aniket Aga’s recent book- “Genetically modified democracy”-
makes one such innovation the subject of his research, viz. “Genetically modified(GM) crops”.

Aga’s book can be located in the field of “Technography”, where a technological solution is ethno-
graphically traced in its journey from the laboratory to its real-world adoption. “Ethnography", in
this case, is used as a framework for assessing the various impacts of GM crops on different con-
stituencies.

Aga’s Book illustrates how policy and decision-making are shaped when various conflicting inter-
ests and “constituencies” collide. Aga livens up the Indian democracy by underlining the nuances of
governing budding technologies such as GM crops.

SUMMARY
The preliminary chapter discusses how the State imported GM technology to India and aided its es-
tablishment. Next, we study how the supremacy of “breeding scientists” over Genetically modified
organisms or GMOs shifted away GMOs' focus from “food security” towards “scientific & techno-
logical development”(Aga, p.64). This chapter ties in with the next chapter discussing the rise of
Biotechnology and how it contributed to the decline of the Agricultural ministry occupied by breed-
ing scientists and had control over agricultural policymaking. The change of guard enabled biotech-
nologists to take the reins of policymaking- a section of scientists confined to laboratories and not
aware of field realities(Aga, p.85). Regulation of GMOs, thus, became imperative with its inclusion
in agricultural policy subject.

Chapter 4 then explains the regulatory structure managing the safety of the biological intervention.
However, nearly all bodies regulating GMOs were headed by bureaucrats who primarily followed
“legal administrative ideology”- focusing on technical aspects rather than scientific
consideration(Aga, p.94). Chapter 5 explains the loopholes in these regulatory structures and the
lack of coherent policymaking. The incoherence in policymaking led to the first protests against
GMOs regulatory structure and Public Interest Litigation to be filed in the Supreme Court, whereby
it ultimately ordered that all information regarding biosafety tests on Bt cotton, a GMO, be publicly
provided; and a technical committee be established consisting of members vetted by petitioner and
Government to oversee the trials. Supreme Court’s intervention led to an increased focus on the is-
sue of biosafety and transparency in information regarding biosafety. The next part explains how al-
liances and opposition between different interest groups were formed by the “agrarian political
economy”(Aga, p.41), referring to constituencies economically and politically connected to agricul-
ture.

Chapter 6 attends to the conflict between domestic and transnational seed companies. The latter
claimed high royalties for providing seeds of even un-patented GM traits to the former. The govern-
ment, favouring domestic companies, stepped in to cap royalty payments when a complaint in this
regard was filed. Meanwhile, farmers were compelled to spend exorbitantly on seeds as the govern-
ment shied away from producing these seeds, highlighting the various linkages activated by the in-
troduction of GMOs in retail markets. The next chapter explains why farmers buy GMOs at such
high prices since it does not make economic sense. Aga finds out that the answer to farmers buying
GM seeds lies in a lack of information about different products available, autonomy and resources
to buy the same. Finally, Aga does a reverse tracing of the seeds from consumers- farmers to the
companies that manufacture these seeds.

Interestingly, the retailer only sells GMOs, for he earns a profit on every seed sold. Using ethnogra-
phy of secondary interviews, documents etc. Aga finds linkages between various
constituencies(Aga, p.17). The final chapter concludes by connecting this debate to the larger issue
of global hunger. He expresses concern about the ability of GMOs to solve the same. Finally, Aga
gives sensible advice- “to identify measures to make agricultural policymaking more participatory
and expand its agenda beyond a focus on production and new technologies”(Aga, p. 206) from the
gap between GMOs hype and modesty.

THESIS OF THE BOOK

Aga’s main argument is that the efficacy of any technological solution, especially in agriculture, is
not determined in an isolated laboratory but by the real-world adoption of that technological solu-
tion. Equally important is the policy regulating it. In following its journey from laboratory to the
field, through ethnography & secondary research, only will one find the various “constituencies” it
links and activates along the way.
Democracies work through politico-scientific controversies by recontouring the decision- making
structures within the state, as different authorities conflict and renegotiate their mandates and pow-
ers vertically (across the federal structure) and horizontally (across line departments and functional
specialisations)(Aga, p.199). This happens only when various groups raise their protest.
In arguing this, he logically concludes that a true balancing of interests can only take place by giv-
ing these constituencies a space in framing policy. Participative policymaking is the ultimate aim of
any democracy, which uses democratised methods to achieve a just and a utilitarian decision(Aga,
p.199).

LINKAGE WITH CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

Aga, in tracing the GMO debate, gives a conclusion with global ramifications. GMOs entered the
popular arena in the 1960s. Since then, gene editing has emerged as a promising technology be-
cause of CRISPR(Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). In 2018, a Chinese
scientist created the first CRISPR baby, prompting the scientific community to raise arms against
the technique because of its shortcomings. Similarly, in agriculture, grave concerns are raised about
unintended consequences. For example, CRISPR often inadvertently alters genes other than the one
being targeted. There are also circumstances called mosaicism, where some cells contain the edited
gene and others do not. Such concerns which may arise as this relatively new technology is adopted
will have to be addressed by a proper regulatory framework. Aga points out that such concerns can
be tackled only when a democratised consultation process is undertaken. Otherwise, the result is an
“impoverished democracy”(Aga, p.201)

STRENGTH
I would remark that this was a groundbreaking book. It is the first book of its kind that attempts to
trace GM crops' development in the political economy of the global south. Aga successfully uses
ethnography as a tool in tracing and explaining these developments. He explains this debate without
imposing the Western experience with GM crops. His astute insight into the dynamics of an ever-
expanding debate that continues to this day makes the Indian democracy come alive before the eyes
of the reader. One gets a first-hand experience of how policymaking evolves and forms in a democ-
racy and what needs to be done more.

LIMITATIONS
Aga could have focused more on the Government’s role in deciding policies and providing informa-
tion regarding GMOs. I would have likened an answer on whether the government should actively
engage in deciding the fate of new technology or be a mere regulator accommodating interests. This
question is especially important in the Indian context, where biotechnology was a state-funded
project in contrast to the west. It was the duty of the government that authentic information regard-
ing GMOs was disseminated by the government.

The information must be considered a part of positive means to govern populations. Transparency
in providing information aids the government to foster confidence among its netizens. Thus viewed,
governing is an art involving the imaginative application of intuition, knowledge, and skills to ad-
ministration and management(Michael Foucalt, 1977). Aga could have inquired more about the role
of government in ensuring the dissemination of “right” information.

CONTRIBUTIONS
This book contributes to the larger “agri-studies” and “policymaking” academia. Scholars need to
undertake studies to find reasons for farmers’ distress and suicides in India. Aga undertakes one
such study where he dives deep to study a technology that promised to alleviate farmers’ woes. In
studying its real-world adoption, he demonstrates the gap between its exaggeration and real impact.

Such studies are essential for the government to improve its decision making. In recognising how
different stakeholders are impacted, Aga brings the concept of collective decision making to scien-
tific inventions. The latter is only given meaning when different constituencies come together in its
adoption or rejection.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Aga, Aniket, “Genetically modified democracy: Transgenic crops in contemporary India”,
2021.
2. Foucault, Michael. “Society, territory, population”. 1977-78