Organizations and the Bioeconomy—The Management and Commodification of the Life Sciences

The advancement of the life sciences and the technosciences has enhanced the longevity of citizens in the Western world, and half of the generation born in the first decade of the new millennium is now expected to live to the age of one hundred years. In a society with such longevity and affluence, consumption of health-related goods and services such as pharmaceuticals and scanning procedures may be seen as a sustainable source of income for the industries that promote it. Though the healthcare sector has traditionally been organized in the public sector in Europe and in the private sector in the US, the recent advancement of new therapies and direct-to-consumer marketing have opened up new streams of consumption and revenue for health care goods and services around the globe.

This book examines the so-called ‘bioeconomy’ as a new economic and commercial field that emphasizes the management of individual life, including the regulation and control of weight and food consumption and other issues pertaining to individual well-being. In addition, the bioeconomy includes a variety of practices based on commercial interests such as organ donations, reproductive medicine and technologies, and what has been referred to as the tissue economy – the various forms of trade with human tissues. Author Alexander Styhre provides a thorough introduction to the bioeconomy, exploring this new and unique intersection of the life sciences and the technosciences with more traditional consumer markets.

Alexander Styhre is Professor and Chair of Organization Theory and Management in the Department of Business Administration, School of Business, Economics, and Law at Gothenburg University, Sweden. He has published extensively in the field of organization theory and his most recent books are Visual Culture in Organizations (Routledge, 2010) and Perception and Organization (2009).