Bioeconomy and Global Inequalities
Maria Backhouse, Rosa Lehmann, Kristina Lorenzen, Malte Lühmann, Janina Puder, Fabricio Rodríguez, Anne Tittor
Abstract
The term 'bioeconomy' is commonly met with a sense of uncertainty regarding its meaning and purpose. In general, there are three different fields of public and scientific debate about the bioeconomy. Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (1971) referred to the bioeconomy as a transformational pathway towards a degrowth society. In contrast, the debate about 'biocapitalism' focuses on the commodification of bodies, biological matters and micro-organisms in the context of biotechnological innovation Lastly, bioeconomy policies are also viewed as presenting themselves as a means of replacing the fossil base of modern societies through the intensified use of biomass sources.