Subtle Tyranny

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 90-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nemer E. Narchi ◽  
Beatriz Canabal Cristiani
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Ecological Study ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Social Constructs ◽  
Neoliberal Reforms ◽  
The Way

Neoliberal reforms and social constructs that legitimate the full exploitation of nature intersect with political power to produce an inherently violent social atmosphere in which economic development is based on exclusion, submission, and dispossession of rural and indigenous communities. Historical ecological study of Lake Xochimilco reveals the way in which imposed constructs of nature that exclude traditional ecological knowledge have transformed landscapes and livelihoods to the detriment of all the inhabitants of Mexico City. Las reformas neoliberales y las construcciones sociales que legitiman la explotación plena de la naturaleza se cruzan con el poder político para crear un ambiente social inhe-rentemente violento en el cual el desarrollo económico se basa en la exclusión, el sometimiento y el despojo de las comunidades rurales e indígenas. El estudio histórico de la ecología del Lago de Xochimilco revela la manera en que las construcciones de la naturaleza impuestas que excluyen el conocimiento ecológico tradicional han transformado el paisaje y los medios de subsistencia en detrimento de todos los habitantes de la Ciudad de México.

scholarly journals Protecting Intellectual Property Rights and Traditional Ecological Knowledge: A Critical Look at Peru's Law 27811

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
Michelle Hak Hepburn
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
History Of ◽  
Protecting Intellectual Property ◽  
San Martín

The Peruvian government's Law N. 27811, an intellectual property law passed in 2002 and designed to register and protect traditional knowledge, provides productive opportunities for critical analysis. Framed within the trajectory of international intellectual property rights and discussions that complicate the integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) into Cartesian scientific frameworks, this paper critically examines how the Peruvian law has been implemented and its impacts in Indigenous communities, particularly in the Andean Amazon region. The analysis is based on the author's work assisting Indigenous communities in San Martin register their knowledge through this law. While the law represents an advanced legal attempt to address power inequalities, it remains problematic. It does not address the impoverishment of Indigenous Peoples and continues to subordinate Indigenous TEK to Cartesian science. Although it is a symbolic recognition of the value of Peruvian Indigenous Peoples, other mechanisms are still required to redress the long history of colonization and racism.

scholarly journals Using traditional ecological knowledge to understand and adapt to climate and biodiversity change on the Pacific coast of North America

AMBIO ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (12) ◽  
pp. 1447-1469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Rawn Wyllie de Echeverria ◽  
Thomas F. Thornton
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Biodiversity Changes

Abstract We investigate the perceptions and impacts of climate change on 11 Indigenous communities in Northern British Columbia and Southeast Alaska. This coastal region constitutes an extremely dynamic and resilient social-ecological system where Indigenous Peoples have been adjusting to changing climate and biodiversity for millennia. The region is a bellwether for biodiversity changes in coastal, forest, and montane environments that link the arctic to more southerly latitudes on the Pacific coast. Ninety-six Elders and resource users were interviewed to record Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and observations regarding weather, landscape, and resource changes, especially as concerns what we term Cultural Keystone Indicator Species (CKIS), which provide a unique lens into the effects of environmental change. Our findings show that Indigenous residents of these communities are aware of significant environmental changes over their lifetimes, and an acceleration in changes over the last 15–20 years, not only in weather patterns, but also in the behaviour, distributions, and availability of important plants and animals. Within a broader ecological and social context of dwelling, we suggest ways this knowledge can assist communities in responding to future environmental changes using a range of place-based adaptation modes.

scholarly journals Are local and traditional ecological knowledge suitable tools for informing the conservation of threatened amphibians in biodiversity hotspots?

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Arun Kanagavel
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Amphibian Conservation ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Western Ghats Of India ◽  
Frog Species ◽  
Group A ◽  
Interview Survey ◽  
Southern Western Ghats ◽  
Data Source

Globally, amphibians are declining more rapidly than any other vertebrate group. A general shortage of funding for the support of focused scientific studies led us to investigate local and traditional ecological knowledge as an alternative data source for amphibian conservation. In this context, we undertook a questionnaire-based interview survey with forest-dwelling indigenous and non-indigenous communities across the Anamalai Hills, within the southern Western Ghats of India, to gather ecological knowledge on three cryptic and threatened frog species. Our results suggest that local communities possess ecological knowledge of frogs and that the magnitude of this knowledge is influenced by gender, community type, education, and age. Accuracy of local knowledge was primarily influenced by the morphological distinctiveness of the focal species, but cultural association and utilisation were also important factors especially for the enigmatic purple frog Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis, which has uses in medicine and amulets.

scholarly journals Renewing "That Which Was Almost Lost or Forgotten": The Implications of Old Ethnologies for Present-Day Traditional Ecological Knowledge Among Canada's Pacific Coast Peoples

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne C. Newell
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Franz Boas ◽  
Pacific Northwest Coast ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
Field Workers

The pressure on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) to solve socio-economic issues globally begs the question: What is the state of TEK today, given the economic, social, and cultural ruptures it has endured during the past 200 years? The author traces how historical collaborative work between ethnographic pairings of “insiders” and “outsiders” created partnerships between some prominent anthropologists and local Indigenous research collaborators. Indeed, most of the ground-breaking anthropological work of Franz Boas and others concerning Canada’s Pacific Northwest coast culture area depended on collaborations with George Hunt and other trained Indigenous field workers. Much of their long-standing fieldwork data collection and writings involved their female relatives and anonymous women’s collaboration, lending an accumulated, but unacknowledged, thoroughness to present-day TEK. Future policy concerning collaboration between non-Indigenous academics and Indigenous communities should take into account the lessons to be learned from these historical practices.

scholarly journals Adaptation to Climate Change: Does Traditional Ecological Knowledge Hold the Key?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadzirah Hosen ◽  
Hitoshi Nakamura ◽  
Amran Hamzah
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Climate Risks

The traditional knowledge of indigenous people is often neglected despite its significance in combating climate change. This study uncovers the potential of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) from the perspective of indigenous communities in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, and explores how TEK helps them to observe and respond to local climate change. Data were collected through interviews and field work observations and analysed using thematic analysis based on the TEK framework. The results indicated that these communities have observed a significant increase in temperature, with uncertain weather and seasons. Consequently, drought and wildfires have had a substantial impact on their livelihoods. However, they have responded to this by managing their customary land and resources to ensure food and resource security, which provides a respectable example of the sustainable management of terrestrial and inland ecosystems. The social networks and institutions of indigenous communities enable collective action which strengthens the reciprocal relationships that they rely on when calamity strikes. Accordingly, the communities maintain their TEK through cultural festivals and oral traditions passed from one generation to another. TEK is a practical tool that helps indigenous communities adapt to climate risks and promotes socio-ecological resilience, which upholds social empowerment and sustainable resource management.

scholarly journals Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Ocean Observing: A Review of Successful Partnerships

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
MaryJane Proulx ◽  
Lydia Ross ◽  
Christina Macdonald ◽  
Shayla Fitzsimmons ◽  
Michael Smit
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Knowledge Cultures ◽  
Ocean Observing ◽  
Ocean Observing Systems ◽  
Observing Systems

Understanding and management of the marine environment requires respect for, and inclusion of, Indigenous knowledge, cultures, and traditional practices. The Aha Honua, an ocean observing declaration from Coastal Indigenous Peoples, calls on the ocean observing community to “formally recognize the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples,” and “to learn and respect each other’s ways of knowing.” Ocean observing systems typically adopt open data sharing as a core principle, often requiring that data be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR). Without modification, this approach to Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) would mean disregarding historical and ongoing injustices and imbalances in power, and information management principles designed to address these wrongs. TEK from global ocean observing is not equitable or desirable. Ocean observing systems tend to align with settler geography, but their chosen regions often include Indigenous coastal-dwelling communities that have acted as caretakers and stewards of the land and ocean for thousands of years. Achieving the call of Aha Honua will require building relationships that recognize Indigenous peoples play a special role in the area of ocean stewardship, care, and understanding. This review examines the current understanding of how Indigenous TEK can be successfully coordinated or utilized alongside western scientific systems, specifically the potential coordination of TEK with ocean observing systems. We identify relevant methods and collaborative projects, including cases where TEK has been collected, digitized and the meta(data) has been made open under some or all the FAIR principles. This review also highlights enabling factors that notably contribute to successful outcomes in digitization, and mitigation measures to avoid the decontextualization of TEK. Recommendations are primarily value- and process-based, rather than action-based, and acknowledge the key limitation that this review is based on extant written knowledge. In cases where examples are provided, or local context is necessary to be concrete, we refer to a motivating example of the nascent Atlantic Regional Association of the Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System and their desire to build relationships with Indigenous communities.

The Critical Break

2021 ◽  
pp. 187-236
Author(s):  
Jon D. Wisman
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Present State ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Arms Race ◽  
Major Focus ◽  
Military Technology ◽  
European State ◽  
The Way

With this chapter, the book’s major focus shifts from the whole world to Europe, where sustainable capitalist economic development first takes off. After Rome’s disintegration, due to Western Europe’s geography and level of military technology, no European state could gain a hegemony on power. The resulting intense and ever-present state competition fueled an arms race and technological innovation while keeping rulers in need of revenue. They found additional resources in the expanding commerce, manufacturing, and capitalist institutions that accompanied an emerging bourgeoisie. Consequently, uniquely in Europe a bourgeoisie sustainably managed to survive its own self-destructiveness and the hostility of a hereditary landed aristocracy. The growing muscle of the bourgeoisie expressed itself in increasingly successful demands for greater freedoms, privileges, status, and political power commensurable to their wealth. The unique sustainable success of the European bourgeoisie and capitalist institutions constitutes a historical singularity, paving the way for today’s riches and freedoms.

scholarly journals Tiger Becomes Termite Hill: Soliga/Solega Perceptions of Wildlife Interactions and Ecological Change

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samira Agnihotri ◽  
C. Madegowda ◽  
Aung Si
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Subsistence Level ◽  
Ecological Changes

The Solega community living in the Biligiri Rangan Hills (B. R. Hills) of Karnataka State, southern India, have noticed significant changes to the ecosystem of their forest homeland over the last four or five decades. Originally hunter-gatherers, who carried out swidden agriculture at a subsistence level, they were forced to abandon the semi-nomadic ways of their ancestors, and settle in permanent villages when these forests were first declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1974. In this paper, we present the views of Solega elders on the ecological changes that have taken place in the B. R. Hills, along with the subsequent changes in their interactions with the animals that also inhabit this landscape. The Solega way of life is accustomed to co-existing with wildlife, and they worship several animal deities. Their folklore and traditional ecological knowledge are also replete with ways of avoiding dangerous encounters with wildlife. Many of the detrimental ecological changes observed by Solega people are ascribed by them to the halting of their traditional litter fire regime, and the subsequent rampant growth of the exotic invasive plant Lantana camara, which now dominates the understorey in large swathes of the forest. These factors combine, according to Solega elders, to negatively impact the well-being of both animals as well as their own people. We hope to demonstrate how a deeper understanding of Solega language and culture, both essential facets of everyday life, as well as of their traditional ecological knowledge—can allow a full appreciation of the interactions between small Indigenous communities, such as the Solega, and the natural environment. We argue for a greater appreciation of, and engagement with, Indigenous knowledge in conservation efforts in countries such as India, where the protection of charismatic species, such as tigers, is often perceived to be at odds with the rights of small minority groups, such as the Solega.

scholarly journals Differential loss of components of traditional ecological knowledge following a primate extinction event

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 172352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel T. Turvey ◽  
Jessica V. Bryant ◽  
Katherine A. McClune
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Hainan Island ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Ecosystem Change ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
History Information ◽  
Species Specific

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), an important component of the modern conservation toolkit, is being eroded in indigenous communities around the world. However, the dynamics of TEK loss in response to ecosystem change and disruption to social–ecological systems, and patterns of variation in vulnerability and resilience of different components of TEK, remain poorly understood. The Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus), a culturally significant primate, was formerly distributed across Hainan Island, China, but became extinct across most of this range within living memory and is now restricted to a single landscape, Bawangling National Nature Reserve. Gibbon-specific TEK (including folktales, natural history information and methods of gibbon exploitation) is still present in indigenous communities across seven Hainanese landscapes, but statistically significant differences in TEK content exist between landscapes with different histories of gibbon persistence: respondents from Bawangling and most landscapes that have recently lost gibbons report more gibbon-related folktales compared with landscapes from which gibbons have been absent for several decades. Species-specific folktales might have been lost more rapidly compared with other components of TEK because older community members are typically the ‘cultural repositories’ of stories, whereas knowledge about practical interactions with biodiversity might be shared more widely with younger community members.

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