ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents us with an example of where activists in other countries see private ownership of bandwidth to be troubling because it interferes with public discourse. Andrea Boggio shows that the discovery of genetic materials and the desire of scientists to pursue their findings raise questions concerning who has control over both the genetic material and cultural heritage. Andrea Boggio addresses the question of whether we hold property rights to our genetic code, with research based in a study of indigenous peoples of Papua New Guinea and intellectual property issues arising from commercial exploitation of their DNA samples. The book strongly suggests that understanding the structure of neoliberalist law and politics in particular locations is very important. Thus, to understand property rights mobilizations, asking first the question of how institutions create the context in which that mobilization occurs seems paramount.
