Bioeconomy: the green gatopardy of global capitalism. Interview with Margherita Ciervo

Abstract

Margherita Ciervo holds a PhD in Economic Geography from the University
of Bari and is Professor at the Department of Economics, Management and Territory at
the University of Foggia (Italy). He is one of the founders of the Interdisciplinary
Observatory of the Bioeconomy, a critical think tank that has carried out several
initiatives on the subject under the patronage of the Italian Geographical Society of
Rome. In her academic career, she has managed to identify the narrative and
ideological levers used by multilateral organizations to distort the original meanings of
the bioeconomy, proposed by Georgescu-Roegen in the 1970s, and to propose it as a
possible and desirable development strategy. Interviewed by Diego Taraborrelli,
Ciervo reviews the different meanings of the concept, distinguishing economic theory
from operational strategy. In these terms, she provides a critical analysis of the European Union's bioeconomy strategy, explaining its socio-political, economic and
environmental consequences. She also raises a series of questions, read in a political
key, that are fundamental for the debate on development in the 21st century, linked to
the role of intellectuals and the scientific community, technology and digitalization in
productive processes, and the effects on territory and geographical space.