Posdoc project (2017-20):
Agricultural innovation and its five dimensions of social justice
Summary
Gaining and retaining a respectable reputation is essential for the success of any cooperative endeavour. Agriculture as the cooperative endeavour that engages the largest number of people is no exception. Its effective and sustainable functioning is paramount for human survival. As arable land becomes increasingly scarce and populations become larger, humanity needs to produce more food on less land with a lower environmental impact. This goal can only be achieved through scientific advances and efficient innovation governance, which requires for its success that agricultural science and our food production system regains an image of being fair and thus worthy of cooperation. To do so, five dimensions of social justice need to be addressed: commutative justice, distributive justice, contributive justice, restorative justice and intergenerational justice. Aim of this research proposal is to develop a five dimensional normative framework that will help us to identify key problems and potentials in our food production and agricultural innovation systems, as well as design more socially and environmentally sustainable policies so that people and nature can benefit from scientific advancement.
Planned output
The main output of this research will be a book manuscript titled "Agricultural innovation and its five dimensions of social justice". The following chapters are planned:
1. Intellectual property and breakthrough innovation. What are the benefits and costs for society and the environment of proprietary agricultural science?
2. Incremental innovation and non-proprietary science. What type of innovation are we missing out by overly relying on patents? Do existing open innovation tools adequately address this shortcoming?
3. Commutative justice. Should we go back to strengthen public research institutes in order to bring a sufficiently large number of technological solutions at low prices for the poor?
4. Distributive justice. Should we constrain scientific freedom in order to force research attention towards developing solutions for the needs of the poor?
5. Contributive justice. Should we neglect inclusive development and capacity-building efforts when focussing on more urgent problems, such as preventing famine?
6. Restorative justice. Why it is important to have an efficient sanctioning system that deals specifically with abuses and negligence in scientific research in agriculture?
7. Intergenerational justice. Do we have special duties towards future generations if we consume exhaustible resources essential for the production of food? If so, how do we justify these duties and what are their implications?
In parallel I will work on three articles:
- Genetic resources and intergenerational justice
- Ethical issues of large-scale land leases: a soil science perspective" (with Georges Félix)
- Article on food justice with PhD researcher (open)
Output (December 2019)
Timmermann, Cristian and Georges F. Félix (2019), Ethical issues involving long-term land leases: a soil sciences perspective. In Sustainable governance and management of food systems: ethical perspectives, edited by Eija Vinnari and Markus Vinnari, 287-292. Wageningen: Wageningen Academic Publishers. [PDF] [pre-print]
Timmermann, Cristian (2019), Citizen Science for biomedical research and contributive justice. The American Journal of Bioethics 19(8): 60-62. [PDF] [free copy (first 50 views)]
Timmermann, Cristian (2019), A Latin American perspective to agricultural ethics. In Controversies in Latin American Bioethics, edited by Eduardo Rivera López and Martín Hevia, 203-217. Cham: Springer. [PDF]
Timmermann, Cristian (2019), Book review: PATEL R. & MOORE J.W. A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet. Acta Bioethica 25(1): 141-142. [open access]
Timmermann, Cristian (2018), Food security as a global public good. In Routledge Handbook of Food as a Commons, edited by Jose Luis Vivero Pol, Tomaso Ferrando, Olivier de Schutter and Ugo Mattei, 85-99. Oxon & New York: Routledge. [PDF]
Robaey, Zoë and Cristian Timmermann (2018), Fair agricultural innovation for a changing climate. In Food Justice, the Environment, and Climate Change, edited by Erinn Cunniff Gilson and Sarah Kenehan, 213-230. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. [pre-print]
Félix, Georges F., Ibrahima Diedhiou, Marie Le Garff, Cristian Timmermann, Cathy Clermont-Dauphin, Laurent Cournac, Jeroen C.J. Groot, and Pablo Tittonell (2018), Use and management of biodiversity by smallholder farmers in semi-arid West Africa. Global Food Security 18: 76-85. doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2018.08.005 [open access]
Timmermann, Cristian (2018), Embracing the Nature of Complex Interactions: Climate Change and Human Survival. Metascience 27(1): 155-157, doi:10.1007/s11016-017-0273-z [PDF] [free read-only version]
Finalization of previous work:
Timmermann, Cristian (2018), Contributive Justice: An exploration of a wider provision of meaningful work. Social Justice Research 31(1): 85-111, doi:10.1007/s11211-017-0293-2 [PDF] [free read-only version] [post-print]
Under review:
Timmermann, Cristian (---), Innovation in den Lebenswissenschaften, negative Externalitäten und intergenerative Gerechtigkeit. In Die zeitliche Dimension der Gerechtigkeit, edited by Reinold Schmücker, Kurt Bayertz and Ludwig Siep, Münster: Mentis.
Plus a blinded article on open data and education.
Presentations:
"Justicia agraria como buen convivir"
- Seminario "Existencialismo y meta-ética", Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, December 13, 2019, Viña del Mar, Chile
"Book in progress workshop: Social justice and agricultural innovation" with commentaries by Axel Gosseries, Eric Boot and Maxime Lambrecht
- Chaire Hoover, Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, November 25, 2019, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
"Agricultural innovation and justice in exchange: beyond fair rewards and adequate access"
- RIPPLE Justice Seminar, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, November 6, 2019, Leuven, Belgium
"Do individuals have obligations in realizing energy sovereignty?"
- In-time seminar, Chaire Hoover, Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, October 22, 2019, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
"Ethical issues involving long-term land leases: a soil sciences perspective" (with Georges Félix)
- European Society for Food and Agricultural Ethics (EURSAFE), University of Tampere, September 19-21, 2019, Tampere, Finland
"Agricultural innovation and restorative justice: facilitating cooperation by building conflict resolution capacities"
- HELSUS seminar, University of Helsinki, September 24, 2019, Helsinki, Finland
- MANCEPT Workshops on Political Theory, University of Manchester, September 9-11, 2019, Manchester, United Kingdom
"Public health innovations and their six dimensions of social justice"
- Brocher Alumni Meeting, Fondation Brocher, June 24-27, 2019, Hermance, Switzerland
"Agricultural innovation and contributive justice: the multiple advantages of participation"
- ESPOL séminaire général, Université Catholique de Lille, November 7, 2019, Lille, France
- Workshop "Responsible Research and Innovation in Agricultural Systems", University of Tampere, September 18, 2019, Tampere, Finland
- Workshop "Citizen science: new epistemoogical, ethical and political challenges", Université Jean-Moulin, Lyon 3, June 6-7, 2019, Lyon, France
"Justice and agricultural innovation: a different approach"
- Research Scholar Seminar, The Hastings Center, May 20, 2019, Garrison, NY, United States
"Agricultural justice: a conceptual exploration"
- Just Food Seminar, University of Jyväskylä, September 23, 2019, Jyväskylä, Finland
- International Political Economy of Agriculture Research Seminar, Kyoto University, December 17, 2018, Kyoto, Japan
"Fair agricultural innovation" (with Zoë Robaey)
- VTI Colloquium, TU Delft, September 17, 2018, Delft, The Netherlands
"Innovation in agriculture and intergenerational justice"
- 11th International Conference on Applied Ethics, Kyoto University, December 15-16, 2018, Kyoto, Japan
- Yaoundé Seminar on Political Philosophy, Université Catholique de l'Afrique Centrale, August 20-26, 2018, Yaoundé, Cameroon
"Why is agriculture an issue for political philosophy?"
- Political Philosophy Summer School, Wuhan University, August 1-7, 2018, Wuhan, China
“Innovation in Agriculture and Living with Nature”
- Workshop Justice and Non-Humans, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, June 12-13, 2018, Santiago, Chile
“Distributing research attention in agriculture”
- V Conference of the Latin American Association for Analytic Philosophy, May 16-18, 2018, Villa de Leyva, Colombia
- Law School Seminar, Universidad Torcuato di Tella, March 5, 2018, Buenos Aires, Argentina
“Innovación en la agricultura y sus cinco dimensiones de justicia social” [Agricultural innovation and its five dimensions of social justice]
- V Congreso Asociación Chilena de Filosofía, Universidad Austral de Chile, November 13-17, 2017, Valdivia, Chile
- 2º Seminario Internacional "Justicia social e igualitarismo", Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de Chile, June 9, 2017, Santiago, Chile
“Agricultural innovation and its five dimensions of social justice" - book manuscript sketch overview
- T.C. Beirne School of Law Seminar, University of Queensland, October 16, 2017, Brisbane, Australia
This project is funded by Chile's taxpayers under FONDECYT Postdoctorado N°3170068.
Last update: December 13, 2019
(photo: road from Balmaceda to Coyhaique, Aysén, Chile)
Gaining and retaining a respectable reputation is essential for the success of any cooperative endeavour. Agriculture as the cooperative endeavour that engages the largest number of people is no exception. Its effective and sustainable functioning is paramount for human survival. As arable land becomes increasingly scarce and populations become larger, humanity needs to produce more food on less land with a lower environmental impact. This goal can only be achieved through scientific advances and efficient innovation governance, which requires for its success that agricultural science and our food production system regains an image of being fair and thus worthy of cooperation. To do so, five dimensions of social justice need to be addressed: commutative justice, distributive justice, contributive justice, restorative justice and intergenerational justice. Aim of this research proposal is to develop a five dimensional normative framework that will help us to identify key problems and potentials in our food production and agricultural innovation systems, as well as design more socially and environmentally sustainable policies so that people and nature can benefit from scientific advancement.
Planned output
The main output of this research will be a book manuscript titled "Agricultural innovation and its five dimensions of social justice". The following chapters are planned:
1. Intellectual property and breakthrough innovation. What are the benefits and costs for society and the environment of proprietary agricultural science?
2. Incremental innovation and non-proprietary science. What type of innovation are we missing out by overly relying on patents? Do existing open innovation tools adequately address this shortcoming?
3. Commutative justice. Should we go back to strengthen public research institutes in order to bring a sufficiently large number of technological solutions at low prices for the poor?
4. Distributive justice. Should we constrain scientific freedom in order to force research attention towards developing solutions for the needs of the poor?
5. Contributive justice. Should we neglect inclusive development and capacity-building efforts when focussing on more urgent problems, such as preventing famine?
6. Restorative justice. Why it is important to have an efficient sanctioning system that deals specifically with abuses and negligence in scientific research in agriculture?
7. Intergenerational justice. Do we have special duties towards future generations if we consume exhaustible resources essential for the production of food? If so, how do we justify these duties and what are their implications?
In parallel I will work on three articles:
- Genetic resources and intergenerational justice
- Ethical issues of large-scale land leases: a soil science perspective" (with Georges Félix)
- Article on food justice with PhD researcher (open)
Output (December 2019)
Timmermann, Cristian and Georges F. Félix (2019), Ethical issues involving long-term land leases: a soil sciences perspective. In Sustainable governance and management of food systems: ethical perspectives, edited by Eija Vinnari and Markus Vinnari, 287-292. Wageningen: Wageningen Academic Publishers. [PDF] [pre-print]
Timmermann, Cristian (2019), Citizen Science for biomedical research and contributive justice. The American Journal of Bioethics 19(8): 60-62. [PDF] [free copy (first 50 views)]
Timmermann, Cristian (2019), A Latin American perspective to agricultural ethics. In Controversies in Latin American Bioethics, edited by Eduardo Rivera López and Martín Hevia, 203-217. Cham: Springer. [PDF]
Timmermann, Cristian (2019), Book review: PATEL R. & MOORE J.W. A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet. Acta Bioethica 25(1): 141-142. [open access]
Timmermann, Cristian (2018), Food security as a global public good. In Routledge Handbook of Food as a Commons, edited by Jose Luis Vivero Pol, Tomaso Ferrando, Olivier de Schutter and Ugo Mattei, 85-99. Oxon & New York: Routledge. [PDF]
Robaey, Zoë and Cristian Timmermann (2018), Fair agricultural innovation for a changing climate. In Food Justice, the Environment, and Climate Change, edited by Erinn Cunniff Gilson and Sarah Kenehan, 213-230. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. [pre-print]
Félix, Georges F., Ibrahima Diedhiou, Marie Le Garff, Cristian Timmermann, Cathy Clermont-Dauphin, Laurent Cournac, Jeroen C.J. Groot, and Pablo Tittonell (2018), Use and management of biodiversity by smallholder farmers in semi-arid West Africa. Global Food Security 18: 76-85. doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2018.08.005 [open access]
Timmermann, Cristian (2018), Embracing the Nature of Complex Interactions: Climate Change and Human Survival. Metascience 27(1): 155-157, doi:10.1007/s11016-017-0273-z [PDF] [free read-only version]
Finalization of previous work:
Timmermann, Cristian (2018), Contributive Justice: An exploration of a wider provision of meaningful work. Social Justice Research 31(1): 85-111, doi:10.1007/s11211-017-0293-2 [PDF] [free read-only version] [post-print]
Under review:
Timmermann, Cristian (---), Innovation in den Lebenswissenschaften, negative Externalitäten und intergenerative Gerechtigkeit. In Die zeitliche Dimension der Gerechtigkeit, edited by Reinold Schmücker, Kurt Bayertz and Ludwig Siep, Münster: Mentis.
Plus a blinded article on open data and education.
Presentations:
"Justicia agraria como buen convivir"
- Seminario "Existencialismo y meta-ética", Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, December 13, 2019, Viña del Mar, Chile
"Book in progress workshop: Social justice and agricultural innovation" with commentaries by Axel Gosseries, Eric Boot and Maxime Lambrecht
- Chaire Hoover, Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, November 25, 2019, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
"Agricultural innovation and justice in exchange: beyond fair rewards and adequate access"
- RIPPLE Justice Seminar, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, November 6, 2019, Leuven, Belgium
"Do individuals have obligations in realizing energy sovereignty?"
- In-time seminar, Chaire Hoover, Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, October 22, 2019, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
"Ethical issues involving long-term land leases: a soil sciences perspective" (with Georges Félix)
- European Society for Food and Agricultural Ethics (EURSAFE), University of Tampere, September 19-21, 2019, Tampere, Finland
"Agricultural innovation and restorative justice: facilitating cooperation by building conflict resolution capacities"
- HELSUS seminar, University of Helsinki, September 24, 2019, Helsinki, Finland
- MANCEPT Workshops on Political Theory, University of Manchester, September 9-11, 2019, Manchester, United Kingdom
"Public health innovations and their six dimensions of social justice"
- Brocher Alumni Meeting, Fondation Brocher, June 24-27, 2019, Hermance, Switzerland
"Agricultural innovation and contributive justice: the multiple advantages of participation"
- ESPOL séminaire général, Université Catholique de Lille, November 7, 2019, Lille, France
- Workshop "Responsible Research and Innovation in Agricultural Systems", University of Tampere, September 18, 2019, Tampere, Finland
- Workshop "Citizen science: new epistemoogical, ethical and political challenges", Université Jean-Moulin, Lyon 3, June 6-7, 2019, Lyon, France
"Justice and agricultural innovation: a different approach"
- Research Scholar Seminar, The Hastings Center, May 20, 2019, Garrison, NY, United States
"Agricultural justice: a conceptual exploration"
- Just Food Seminar, University of Jyväskylä, September 23, 2019, Jyväskylä, Finland
- International Political Economy of Agriculture Research Seminar, Kyoto University, December 17, 2018, Kyoto, Japan
"Fair agricultural innovation" (with Zoë Robaey)
- VTI Colloquium, TU Delft, September 17, 2018, Delft, The Netherlands
"Innovation in agriculture and intergenerational justice"
- 11th International Conference on Applied Ethics, Kyoto University, December 15-16, 2018, Kyoto, Japan
- Yaoundé Seminar on Political Philosophy, Université Catholique de l'Afrique Centrale, August 20-26, 2018, Yaoundé, Cameroon
"Why is agriculture an issue for political philosophy?"
- Political Philosophy Summer School, Wuhan University, August 1-7, 2018, Wuhan, China
“Innovation in Agriculture and Living with Nature”
- Workshop Justice and Non-Humans, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, June 12-13, 2018, Santiago, Chile
“Distributing research attention in agriculture”
- V Conference of the Latin American Association for Analytic Philosophy, May 16-18, 2018, Villa de Leyva, Colombia
- Law School Seminar, Universidad Torcuato di Tella, March 5, 2018, Buenos Aires, Argentina
“Innovación en la agricultura y sus cinco dimensiones de justicia social” [Agricultural innovation and its five dimensions of social justice]
- V Congreso Asociación Chilena de Filosofía, Universidad Austral de Chile, November 13-17, 2017, Valdivia, Chile
- 2º Seminario Internacional "Justicia social e igualitarismo", Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de Chile, June 9, 2017, Santiago, Chile
“Agricultural innovation and its five dimensions of social justice" - book manuscript sketch overview
- T.C. Beirne School of Law Seminar, University of Queensland, October 16, 2017, Brisbane, Australia
This project is funded by Chile's taxpayers under FONDECYT Postdoctorado N°3170068.
Last update: December 13, 2019
(photo: road from Balmaceda to Coyhaique, Aysén, Chile)