Structuralism and Form in Literature and Biology Critiquing Genetic Manipulation

The book considers biology in parallel with philosophical structuralism in order to argue that notions of form in the organism are analogous to similar ideas in structuralist philosophy and literary theory. This analogy is then used to shed light on debates among biological scientists from the turn of the 19th century to the present day, including Cuvier, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Dawkins, Crick, Goodwin, Rosen and West-Eberhard. The book critiques the endorsement of genetic manipulation and bioengineering as keys to solving agricultural and environmental problems, suggesting that alternative models have been marginalized in the promotion of this discourse.  Drawing from the work of philosophers including Cassirer, Saussure, Jakobson and Foucault the book ultimately argues that methods based on agroecology, supported by molecular applications (such as marker-assisted selection, MAS), can both advance agricultural development and remain focused on the whole organism. 

1. Natural magic.- 2. Postmodern utopias.- 3. The debate: Cuvier and Geoffroy.- 4. Adaptationism and the author.- 5. Formalism and autonomy.- 6. The poetic function.- 7. Constitutive relations of life.- 8. The interpreting organism.- 9. Literary and biological evolution.- 10. The post-structuralist subject.- 11. Constructed views of life.- 12. Working with the whole organism.

Peter McMahon studied biology at Sussex University and completed a PhD at La Trobe University.  Based there and later at the University of Sydney he coordinated Australian-funded research in Indonesia on soil management, on-farm genotype selection and community development based on ‘One Health’ principles. He has published papers on cocoa pests and diseases and participatory approaches to smallholder livelihoods, and co-authored a book on sustainable approaches to cocoa production.