In the Dies Academicus 2018 celebrated by the University of St. Gallen, Diego Silva, Postdoctoral researcher at the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, was awarded the Lateinamerikapreis (Swiss Latin American Dissertation Award) for the best thesis in Latin American Studies. The award reads:
“This exceptional study examines the relationship between biosafety and processes of commodification of seeds in Colombia. The corresponding regulations were designed to safeguard biodiversity and human health from potentially negative effect of genetically modified (GM) organisms. In his thesis the award winner sheds light on the paradoxical effects that these regulations have caused and questions their explicit functionality as guardians of biodiversity. To investigate the identified contradictions, the awardee makes use of the case of cotton production in Colombia and explores local sites from farmers and traders in rural Colombia to international biosafety regulatory frameworks. He finds that biosafety regulations operate as intellectual property rights protecting the commercial value of GM seeds instead of addressing the intended environmental and health concerns. The study fascinates by its wide interdisciplinary approach, spanning the fields of law, politics, economics, agronomy, anthropology, genetics and STS in a masterly manner. It is well structured and particularly strong from a methodological point of view. Furthermore, the thesis impresses by its integrative approach, being theoretically sound and empirically rich from material generated through intensive fieldwork. This brilliant and innovative piece of research definitely makes a significant contribution to Latin American Studies. The university of St. Gallen congratulates Dr. Diego Silva on this success”.
