Reclaiming the Commons:

from BioDevastation

to BioDemocracy

25.06.2005 01:53

From June 19 to June 22 in Philadelphia, USA, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) held its annual international convention. The convention was the world’s largest gathering of biotech and pharmaceutical executives, as 18,730 representatives from 56 countries and all 50 U.S. states, gathered for 900 business presentations on health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.

Running opposite the BIO convention was a counter-convention called "BioDemocracy 2005", which consisted of a smorgasbord of activities aimed at challenging the biotech industry with an alternative vision of peaceful, sustainable and grassroots democracy. As they have done at previous BIO conventions, activists from across the country converged on the "City of Brotherly Love" to bring attention to BIO's closed-door agenda of medicine for profit, genetically engineered agriculture and bioweapons proliferation. previous conventions: San Francisco, 2004 | St. Louis, 2003 I WTO/USDA Sacramento, 2003 I Washington, DC, 2003

BioDemocracy 2005 kicked off on Friday with a Critical Mass bike ride (photos) against Biotech. The following day, a "Reclaim the Commons" open-air Festival brought together organic farmers, community gardeners, alternative health practitioners, artists, puppets, musicians, families, and activists to share knowledge, give-aways, and skills. Food Not Bombs, which was having a concurrent international gathering in Philadelphia to celebrate its 25th anniversary, provided food at the festival as well as at other BioDemocracy events.

audio: Audio Recordings of BioDemocracy Conference | Audio from morning biotech - Philly | More audio from morning rally at biodev | GE Trees I Food Not Bombs 25th Anniversary, Keith McHenry Reflections | Scientific Controversies in Genetic Engineering | Percy Schmeiser at BioDemocracy

other media: photos 1, 2 video 1

personal accounts: Reportaje personal del BioDemocracy2005 (es) | A Firsthand Account In Philadephia Part One (en)

legal situation: Bail for Protesters set at $50,000 | Legal Situation in Philly

related sites: phillyimc.org | Reclaim the Commons | biodev.org

Audio Recordings from BioDemocracy Conference

21.06.2005 12:26

Dozens of workshops, screenings, and lectures took place during the BioDemocracy convergence. Independent journalists have recorded the very best of these important sources of information that highlight the current dangers Biotech poses and the mounting resistance.

Corruption of Science Panel | Biotech Corporations and Global Trade

GMO's in Latin America | Biotechnology in the Global South

Communities Resisting Genetic Engineering | Ignacio Chapela @ Reclaim the Commons