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Bio-Policy Issues in Russia
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The role of biopolitics as an important component part of the post-communist "overarching cognitive map" is further enhanced by the fact that it can be used not only in social technologies and in a quasi-ideological role. Evolutionary biology has recently developed important ramifications applicable to a variety of social problems and issues. Among them, the following problems & issues seem to be of paramount importance for Russia:
· Environmental Protection. This dimension of biopolitics has been long one of the foci of the activities of various action groups, both formal and informal. Under Gorbachev, many of such groups, starting their activities as "environmentalists", gradually switched over to more political agendas. It is pertinent that in the Baltic countries, which still formed part of the Soviet Union in the late 80s, national liberating movements often employed ecological and "green" slogans. Generally speaking, struggle against environmental destruction provides a very attractive ideological basis for the development of network-like groups including the type discussed above (in this case, such a network group is biopolitical in terms of both its structure and specific goals). Despite all the activities of environmentalists, however, environmental deterioration still remains a burning question in contemporary Russia. This is in part due to the economic chaos and a low standard of living (for a majority of people), so that protecting the bio-environment (as termed by A. Vlavianos-Arvanitis) is sometimes considered a luxury, in view of the more vital concerns. Importantly, biopolitics provides a broader conceptual basis for environmental protection than, e. g. the "green" or purely "environmental" movements. Since it includes the behavioral and neurophysiological dimensions, it encourages scholars and scientists to consider the relationships between environmental factors and human behavior and the performance of the nervous system. In this vein of research, R. Masters has recently investigated the correlations between heavy metal (Pb, Mn) pollution, alcoholism, and violent criminality in the US. A similar study would be even more interesting in Russia, which is notable for its heterogeneity in terms of both pollution (there are great differences between polluted and ecologically clean regions, or, for that matter, even between "dirty" and "clean" districts of Moscow) and criminality rates. A. Vlavianos-Arvanitis (e. g., 1985, 1991) considers the whole package of problems in more philosophic (almost mystical) terms. She describes the totality of all living organisms on Earth as a single body of bios, and she compares destroying the Amazon rainforests to damaging the "lungs" of this planetary quasi-organism.
· Education. The above discussion on environmental protection provides per se a sufficiently important reason for introducing a biological curriculum into the educational system for non-biologists and thereby attempting to eradicate bio-illiteracy (Gusev 1991; 1994; Vlavianos-Arvanitis 1985; 1991). An additional reason is that biological (and specifically biopolitical) knowledge seems to be mandatory for lawyers, political decision-makers, public activists, medical doctors, and reprentatives of a large number of other professions in their everyday activities. The international Commission for Biological Education (CBE) currently pays considerable attention to Russia, which is in part due to the fact that CBE includes an active Russian member;
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· Legislation. The development and enforcement of a reliable legal framework, with respect to environmental concerns and other issues of bio-policy (e. g., abortion, euthanasia, organ transplantation, patenting genetically engineered organisms, etc.) still represents a seroius challenge for Russia, despite the considerable recent progress in this field. Bearing in mind the relationship between the environmental and behavioral issues of biopolitics, special attention should be given to the following questions: "What species-specific behaviors are most relevant to environmental law?... What are the implications of these behaviors for laws dealing with environmental preservation?" (Gruter, 1991, p.123);
· Technology. Using living cells and their components for the purpose of producing drugs, food additives, etc. has become an important industrial strategy in Russia. An active role in these developments has been played by the Biotechnology Center of MSU, which for a long time was headed by Prof. V. D. Samuilov. Another active catalyst of these biotechnological developments was Prof. Manakov from the Fine Chemical Technology Institute (Moscow, Russian Academy of Sciences). The Biotechnology Center published, in the late 80s, a series of 8 guide-books covering genetic and cell engineering, enzyme technology, cell cultivation in vitro, protein production, and other dimensions of modern biotechnology. Inportantly, biotechnological and environmental problems often overlap. On the one hand, biotechnological developments can help protect the environment. For example, industrially cultivating and then using under field conditions the natural enemies of weeds and harmful insects (e. g., the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis can be used to fight insect pests) is an ecologically clean alternative to employing pesticides. On the other hand, biotechnology can itself produce ecologically dangerous substances. For instance, large-scale industrial production of bacterial protein in the Russian town of Kirishy resulted in releasing huge amounts of this protein (as an aerosol) into the atmosphere. This kind of air pollution caused an upsurge of "green" protesters' activity—almost to the point of an organized rebellion.
· Energy. With the help of unicellular organisms, one can produce renewable fuel (ethanol, bio-gas, hydrogen) as an environment-friendly and economical alternative to oil, gas, coal, or uranium. Curiously enough, some of these bio-fuels can be produced only by mixed cultures of microorganisms. For example, no single microorganism species can convert industrial or municipal waste to methane-containing biogas; this requires a concerted action of at least 3-4 microbial species, each carrying out one of the many reaction steps. The cooperation-based microbial association required for this task is characterized by complex biosocial interactions and can itself be described in quasi-biopolitical terms (Oleskin, 1993).
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· Urban Planing, a part of bio-architecture (Eibl-Eibesfeldt und Hass, 1985; Vlavianos-Arvanitis and Oleskin, 1992). This is a research direction aiming to use biological patterns (e. g., a honey comb, a spider's web, a bio-membrane structure) in architecture. It also emphasizes the idea that an architect should pay sufficient attention to ethologically based human behavioral trends. In a primate group or in primitive human society, there was virtually no distinction between social and family life, public and private activities. Bearing in mind these evolutionary considerations, the idea of a creative mix was put forward in bio-architecture. This idea envisages mixing, within a small area, educational facilities, industrial enterprises (on condition that they are prevented from polluting the environment), recreational facilities, as well as apartment houses. Moreover, architectural innovations may promote the people's feeling of self-identification with a specific local community (e. g., by installing sports facilities and constructing leisure game club rooms on the roofs of houses), bring the people closer to nature (by cultivating ivy plants climbing up the house walls), and provide necessary premises for partial economic self-sustainability of such a community. This can be achieved, for instance, by cultivating vegetables on house roofs and balconies. The color palette used in the interior of a house is also of considerable importance. Since our evolutionary ancestors spent most of their time in forests or on savannas, the green color still carries a special, subconsciously perceived message, comforting and reassuring us, and also stimulating the operation of the eye and the visual cortex. Bio-architecture is one of the foci of the activities of the Creative Lab Future of Russia under the Moscow City Council.
· State Politics. The process of social self-structuring, discussed above in the example of the network group model, can be facilitated by establishing a horizontal network structure (e. g., a hirama or an association of hiramas) inside the state machine itself. There are different strategies for attaining this goal. Either the state can be persuaded to set up a new hirama-type structure dealing with an overarching socio-political doctrine, or one of the pre-existing network structures can pressurize the state, by winning popular support, into incorporating it into its apparatus. This network group could then make good use of all state-supported facilities, such as mass media and publishing houses, in order to propagandize its doctrine. Importantly, in contrast to the Soviet-epoch "ideological commissions" of the Communist Party, this network group inside the state must not be able to coerce or oppress the people. This organization must not persecute dissidents, who should feel free to express and defend their views (unless they come into conflict with laws). It should try to convince the people of its views by organizing public discussions and debates.
A final point concerns the impact of the state's political course on the development of biopolitics in Russia. A moderate middle course, based on a compromise between the reformers and the moderate conservatives, the central and regional political systems, the churches and the state, etc., is most likely to create optimal conditions for positive socio-economic developments in general (Yergin and Gustafson, 1993). Such a well-balanced political course would also contribute to the growth of network structures, clear the hurdles on the way of biopolitics as a cognitive map, stimulate a scientifically-based discussion of all biology-related social issues, as well as help create the necessary legal framework for their solution.
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This work was supported in part by a grant from the Russian Humanities Research Foundation, grant no 96-03-04089, and by a grant from the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR). The sponsors bear no responsibility for the views expressed in this article.
Notes
1. Biopolitics-related subjects (particularly sociobiology) had been extensively discussed in Soviet papers (for instance, by R. S. Karpinskaya) before 1987. The word "biopolitics" was briefly mentioned in a paper by Karimsky published before 1987.
2. 2 The staff members of this department are familiar with biopolitics, which was briefly described in one of the articles of the Political Science Dictionary published by them in 1994.
3. 3 According to the legend, King Hiram employed a number of architects and construction workers to construct a new temple. The workers were classified by him into "novices", "helpers", and "masters", but this subdivision was neither profession-based, nor strictly hierarchical. They all had similar (as we would say, "overlapping") jobs, and the only reliable distinctive criterion was the specific secret password each of the worker types had. This password system, introduced by King Hiram, finally cost him his life, according to the legend. Three "helpers" decided to extort the "master" password from him without success. Then the three men inflicted severe injuries on him with their measuring tools (they struck him with a ruler, then with a compass, and finally with an iron triangle). The king died, and was glorified as a martyr by mystical thinkers, including masons.
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