ECOLOGY OF EVERYDAY LIFE
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a sea of zombie-like people (wearing signs that read “consumer”) who stared
blankly and passively at the monster as he announced his plan. Over the
course of our skit, the consumers first strolled about passively, then attempted
to fight the monster, and finally ended up gathering together to discuss what to
do next. Through this process, the consumers realized that by gathering,
discussing, and making decisions, they had actually formed a town meeting of
sorts, and they realized that what they really wanted was to reclaim their
political power. One by one, the consumers flipped over their signs to reveal
the word “citizen” written on the other side.14
At the end of the piece, the actors sat in a circle and invited the audience
to join them in an impromptu town meeting to discuss plans for continuing the
struggle for direct democratic control over technology and over life in general.
What actually ended up occurring, though, was a more concrete, yet highly
democratic discussion of plans for the anti-GMO movement itself.
We then did a series of “supermarket inspections” in which we dressed in
white bio-hazard suits to go ‘shopping5 at our local supermarkets. We strolled
down the supermarket aisles, ‘inspecting5 the produce with a variety of bogus
scientific instruments, dropping flyers into people’s shopping carts and into
produce and dairy displays. In addition, each ‘inspector5 (unable to speak
through a gas-mask) had a plain-clothed ‘assistant5 who would strike up
conversations about biotechnology and democracy with other shoppers whose
responses ranged from amusement and interest, to suspicion and annoyance.
During each action, we had between five to fifteen minutes before we were
asked (or aggressively forced by security guards) to leave the store.
In our flyers, we explained that we were a renegade group that had
defected from the Food and Drug Administration after deciding that we desired
direct political power—in addition to ‘safe food5. Discussing the economic and
cultural issues associated with genetically engineered foods, the flyer also
talked about the connection between direct democracy and technology,
attempting
to
raise
the
level
of public
discussion from
questions
of
environmental and health risk to issues of political power.
For our next action, we plan to set up a “patent office” on a busy street
in our town where we will hand out patent applications to passersby, offering
them the chance to patent their own cell-lines. Through satire, we plan to
educate members of our community about biological patenting, both human
and non-human, explaining the relationship between issues of bodily integrity,
social issues such as capital-driven biotechnology, issues of state monopoly
over policy making, and political issues such as the need for direct democratic
control over technology and over our lives in general.
Through these small actions, we are trying to widen the discussion
surrounding biotechnology by talking about questions of political power in