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Framing the National Interest: Debating Intellectual Property and Access to Essential Medicines in Kenya
Author(s) -
Harrington John,
O'Hare Alasdair
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the journal of world intellectual property
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.334
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1747-1796
pISSN - 1422-2213
DOI - 10.1002/jwip.12020
Subject(s) - framing (construction) , intellectual property , contest , trips architecture , political science , corporate governance , national interest , rhetorical question , trips agreement , law and economics , public administration , sociology , political economy , public relations , law , politics , economics , linguistics , philosophy , finance , parallel computing , computer science , structural engineering , engineering
This paper draws on theories of nodal governance and discursive framing to investigate the rhetorical strategies adopted by campaigners in the ongoing contest over access to medicines and the protection of intellectual property rights in Kenya. It focuses specifically on debates surrounding the implementation of the WTO's TRIPs Agreement in 2001 and the passage of anti‐counterfeit legislation in 2008. A survey of parliamentary debates and media sources, as well as interviews conducted with key participants, indicates that “the nation” provided a common overarching frame for arguments made by opposing sides to these debates. The salience of specifically national considerations confirms our view that studies of framing and health governance need to extend their focus beyond developments in international and developed country fora. It also highlights the continued purchase of the national interest as a means of mobilizing the key state institutions needed to implement global legal regimes in Africa.