Aside from the obvious arrogant, simple-minded, bullying aggression that can be detected in most of what Borlaug said or wrote in public, I think the real issue is the whole context that shaped and continues to shape the thinking of many agricultural scientists. For the historical part, you might be interested (my own arrogant self-promotion) in my book The Death of Ramon Gonzalez: The Modern Agricultural Dilemma, (U. Texas, 2nd ed. 2005) that describes and analyzes the thinking and politics that went into the design of the Green Revolution plant breeding program, based on an agreement made between the Rockefeller Foundation, the U.S. govt., and the Mexican government in 1941. Borlaug was just the lucky guy who applied for and got the position--a host of good plant breeders were available to perform the same task. The intellectual foundations were laid by scientists Stakman, Bradfield, and Manglesdorf on a template that was developed to respond to a unique set of political ! circumstances at the time; in which, interestingly, Henry Wallace played an active and intriguing part.
One part of my interpretation was based on material in Bruce Jennings, Foundations of International Agricultural Research: Science and Politics in Mexican Agriculture (Westview Press: 1988) Jennings is particularly strong on how the research in which Borlaug participated was systematically and often dishonorably defended by the Rockefeller folks from criticism by various people who were anticipating the problems of the Green Revolution. Jennings discovered a lot of interesting memos in the Rockefeller Foundation archives to this effect. Some of his work appeared in journal articles. My work is stronger in terms of the deeper historical background and the larger context and consequences. Both give the lie to the idea that the negative consequences were unforeseeable, and consequently, support the idea that as foreseeable, the consequences might have been at least partially avoidable. I have a shorter, condensed and somewhat improved (by further research) version of this set in a somewhat different frame that will come out as an article sometime next year in a volume on Mexican environmental history edited by historian Chris Boyer of U. Illinois and published by U. Arizona Press. I don't know that I am free to mail it out yet--you could email Boyer and ask if he is able to share it at this point. Angus Wright Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies California State University, Sacramento ________________________________ From: owner-gep...@listserve1.allegheny.edu [owner-gep...@listserve1.allegheny.edu] On Behalf Of Charles Chester [charles.ches...@gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2009 7:32 PM To: gep-ed@listserve1.allegheny.edu Subject: Borlaug's legacy not so laudable? Hi everyone, Can anyone lead me to a journal article or academic text that makes a similar argument to the one made here: http://www.grist.org/article/2009-09-14-thoughts-on-the-legacy-of-norman-borlaug. I've got plenty of sources on the problems associated with the Green Revolution; I'm mostly interested in seeing those arguments made in terms of Borlaug the person...so I suppose what I'm looking for is most likely (though hardly exclusively) to be found in a history journal. Many thanks, and please send answers to me and I'll compile for the whole list. -Charlie ____________________ Charles C. Chester, Ph.D. 9 Lowell Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA wk 617.304.9373 fx 617.245.4613 The Conservation & Climate Change Clearinghouse<http://www.ccc-clearinghouse.net> Brandeis<http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/environmental> - Y2Y<http://www.y2y.net> - Root Capital<http://www.rootcapital.org/> Conservation Across Borders<http://www.islandpress.org/bookstore/details.php?prod_id=673> - Peace Parks<http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11250> Biodiversity Links<http://fletcher.tufts.edu/biodiversity> @ The Fletcher School<http://fletcher.tufts.edu/ierp>
