Traditional knowledge in policy and practice: approaches to development and human well-being
Suneetha M Subramanian and Balakrishna Pisupati (eds.)
United Nations University Press (November 2010) | ISBN 978-92-808-11919
This book is divided into chapters by a variety of experts, organized into categories dealing with production activities/services (agriculture, health, water management, biodiversity, arts, economic development), adaptive capacity (environmental management, climate adaptation), and learning and governance processes (communities, women, education, governance, ethics and equity, intellectual property rights). It highlights the relevance of TK on two fronts: firstly, from an epistemological view, each chapter provides evidence that traditional communities generally base their decisions and actions on clear precepts and principles within an overarching cosmo-vision of the interrelatedness of all things in nature; secondly, each chapter clearly brings out practical and ecologically sound ways in which communities have used their knowledge and skills to address their various needs.
Bertus Haverkort and Coen Reijntjes highlight the diversity and evolution of worldviews among knowledge communities and point out possible relations between different knowledge societies and sciences. Marie Battiste brings out the challenges faced by indigenous communities when they are exposed to an educational process that is insensitive to their cultural learning. Stephen B. Kendie and Bernard Y. Guri use the case of traditional leadership in Ghana to highlight the importance of traditional governance to achieve development objectives, while at the same time showing the challenges to and opportunities for these traditional structures when they operate within a broader national governance framework. Fatima Alvarez Castillo and Maria Nadja A. Castillo highlight the challenges women in traditional societies face both on account of their gender and the communities they belong to. Doris Schroeder brings out subtle and inherent inter-cultural contradictions, clarifying what ethics, exploitation and justice mean in different contexts during interactions between those who provide knowledge and resources and those who commercialize them. Kelly Bannister, Sarah A. Laird and Maui Solomon highlight a best practice case of inter-cultural research partnership, with the development of the International Code of Ethics by the International Society of Ethnobiologists. Ikechi Mgbeoji makes an argument for the need for TK-rich countries to have regional initiatives and protocols to protect TK on terms they deem appropriate. R. Rengalakshmi dwells on traditional land management and crop improvement practices, the roles of women in traditional agricultural practices, and highlights global initiatives that seek to ensure sustainable agriculture by incorporating best practices from the chemical input-based agriculture and principles followed in traditional farming. O. I. Oladele and A. K. Braimoh draw attention to traditional soil and land management practices that can be effectively deployed to mitigate the impacts of climate change on agricultural production. Gerard Bodeker examines health cultures around the world, and provides a comprehensive account of policies related to promotion of traditional medicine in certain countries, particularly in the tropics. Unnikrishnan Payyappalli argues that in addition to focusing on traditional practices there is an urgent need to focus on the plight of the practitioners who constantly add to the body of traditional knowledge and practices. Calvio Guillen and Salvatore Arico make a case for using traditional environmental management principles as the basis for territorial development. Fikret Berkes’s example of the relevance/appropriateness of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and practices, based on his long interactions with the James Bay Cree communities, demonstrates the fact that there is much be gained by including insights from knowledge-rich communities. Suneetha M. Subramanian focuses on traditional communities’ use and management of biological resources and the challenges involved in ensuring the co-evolution of human cultures and biodiversity. Joaquim Shiraishi Neto, Noemi Miyasaka Porro and José Antonio Puppim de Oliveira use the example of the babassu breaker women in Brazil to clearly bring out the challenges faced by businesses and communities in the context of new definitions of community rights and regulations related to the access and use of biological resources in their custody. Rachel Wynberg highlights the various challenges that arise in decisions related to accessing shared genetic resources and traditional knowledge and sharing benefits, through the example of the Hoodia case in Southern Africa. Alphonse Kambu throws light on community water management practices and international policies that aim to regulate the use of water. Ameyali Ramos Castillo presents a best practice case of urban water management in the San Cristobal region of Mexico, based on traditional principles of water use by the Chiapas. Agni Klintuni Boedhihartono elaborates on various climate adaptation techniques deployed by traditional communities, especially in areas vulnerable to droughts and floods. Kabir Bavikkatte, Harry Jonas and Johanna von Braun critically examine the current trend to commoditize traditional knowledge as a means for securing economic development. Tom Lanauze, Susan Forbes, and Maui Solomon narrate the renaissance of the Moriori community through research and documentation of its archaeological “art”. Further information …