Suchergebnisse

In times like ours, when people are inundated with notions of consumerist identities, culture is often seen mainly as a resource to be tapped into for economic development. This certainly is true of blatant consumerist culture produced by such economic behemoths as Hollywood, but it is a narrow view on the importance and functions of culture. The objective of this issue of the International Indigenous Policy Journal is to demonstrate the radical importance of culture and spirituality in not only defining a people and their society but also in affecting their well-being and how these things are all interrelated.

SUMMARY The body of knowledge, science and techniques used by rural people is well developed and can make an important contribution to development, but there is a conflict between it and modern knowledge. Modern knowledge is an instrument of power belonging to the technician. By emphasising the government agent's knowledge, development projects devalue traditional rural peoples' knowledge, and deny them creativity. We need new institutional ways of releasing the creative abilities of rural people in order to achieve a synthesis of traditional and modern knowledge.RESUME Notes sur les connaissances traditionnelles, les connaissances modernes et le développement ruralL'ensemble des connaissances, des sciences et des techniques utilisées par les ruraux est loin d'être négligeable et peut apporter une aide importante au développement, mais il entre en conflit avec les connaissances modernes. Les connaissances modernes sont un instrument de pouvoir appartenant au technicien. En mettant en avant les connaissances de l'agent du gouvernement les projets de développement dévalorisent les connaissances rurales traditionnelles et leur refusent toute créactivité. il faut instituer de nouvelles démarches pour libérer les aptitudes créatives des ruraux, afin de parvenir à une synthèse des connaissances traditionnelles et modernes.RESUMEN Notas sobre el conocimiento tradicional, el conocimiento moderno y el desarrollo ruralEl cuerpo del conocimiento, la ciencia y las técnicas utilizadas por la población rural está bien desarrollado y puede hacer una importante aportación al desarrollo, pero existe un conflicto entre ellos y el conocimiento moderno. El conocimiento moderno es un instrumento de poder que pertenece al técnico. Al poner de relieve el conocimiento del agente del gobierno, los proyectos de desarrollo devalúan el conocimiento tradicional de la población rural, negándoles sus posibilidades creativas. Necesitamos nuevas maneras institucionales de liberar las habilidades creativas de la población rural, con objeto de conseguir una síntesis del conocimiento tradicional y el moderno.

The loss of biodiversity, one of the environmental problems with an acknowledged planet-wide impact, has been addressed by a convention which highlights the need to take into account the "knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities" in a context of sustainable development. This rehabilitation of the traditional practices and knowledge of communities undermined by several decades of development raises a number of problems as to its relevance, forms, and procedures. The multidisciplinary research we have carried out in Brazilian Amazonia on the management of the varietal diversity of cassava by various local groups provides a good illustration of this. After presenting the Amazonian context in which cassava is cultivated, we look at the institutional and organizational environments in which the communities concerned live before taking up the question of emerging political configurations involved in preserving local knowledge. Non-governmental organisations play a significant role politically, as intermediaries between the local level and the state's political and administrative institutions. The dynamics observed testify to a far-reaching change in the way "indigenous communities" relate to the society around them. (Original abstract)

This introductory essay to the special issue, "The Future of Traditional Knowledge Research: Building Partnership and Capacity," discusses some of the fundamental issues about what researchers and Indigenous peoples face in collaborating research. It also discusses how contributing authors have dealt with these problems in the past.

When arrows from the jungle aim to the heart of the modern intellectual property rights -- Towards a horizontal and vertical institutionalisation of TKGR trade -- TKGR protection: major implementation lines -- Contractual accommodation of rights to TKGR -- To protect or not to protect -- Where traditional knowledge meets modern IPRS