The Round-up on The Windup Girl

The Windup Girl brings to light some very interesting views about what the future of the

world could look like if we continue down a path with the same disregard to the environment

as we are currently. There were a few aspects of the book that stood out to me as the most

prominent: the reliance on GM seeds, the setting and the power of the agribusinesses.


The expanding presence of GMOs in today’s world brings me to believe that there could

be a slight possibility of this reliance in some places in the future. However, there are a few

barriers to complete acceptance of GMOs. The lecture by Jacqui Ignatov gave me a lot to think

about on the matter. The experience she shared about her time in Ghana has helped me place this

book closer to science fiction than a viable future option. For instance, the opponents to GMOs

argue that these organisms could lead to health problems. This problem is the overarching issue

that makes it hard for me to believe a future world could be like the one describe in the book.


In the world of The Windup Girl disease and deadly plagues are running rampant across the

earth because of the reliance on GM seeds. With the obsession of health and healthy living that

is so prominent in the developed world today, I cannot see a future where we let ourselves be

controlled by food sources that are not safe. As Ignatov explained in her lecture, the resistance

to GMOs was concentrated in the South, where college-educated individuals were more

widespread. Further, those with international contacts were also less likely to accept genetically

modified food. Therefore, present day North America and Europe would not be on the path

toward the world in this novel. However, this novel does not take place in either of these settings.


The second element of this novel that stood out to me was the setting of the story.

I believe Paolo Bacigalupi was strategic in placing this story somewhere that was in the

developing world. This is because the developed world would not let GM seeds completely

overtake the food economy and cause such destruction. As Ignatov said, the Northern farmers

in Ghana are unaware of GM crops and of the dangers they pose. If there were to be a futuristic

world were this happens, it would have to start in developed nations where people were not

aware of these dangers. However, even with the correct setting, this type of world is highly

unlikely to happen in the future because of the current power of international organizations.


Unlike in this futuristic world, today’s world has many intergovernmental and

nongovernmental organizations that would make a post-global world where all countries are

closed highly unlikely. The closed-off nature of the countries in this book made GM seed

reliance much more realistic than in the real world. The power of the agribusinesses would be

hampered by these international organizations that work toward ideals like international human

rights, environmental protection and intergovernmental collaboration. With less power in the

agribusinesses, the crop production would not get out of hand, even in remote or less developed

areas.


These observations have led me to believe that this type of futuristic scenario is not

viable based on the path the world is going down today. Although an interesting read, the claims

made in this book cannot be taken as more than science fiction. The power of governments and

power of globalization are forces that are too strong to change the path toward a future such as

this one.