Showing papers on "Traditional knowledge published in 2015"

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Abstract: As previously discussed, Reyhner and Eder (1989) have divided the history of American Indian educational policy, and indeed Indian policy generally, into six distinct periods or eras, culminating in our current state of Self-Determination. While this seems to be an accurate assessment of the present day, the authors would like to suggest that recent global developments have created considerable impetus for change in Indian Country. The authors believe that Indigenous populations may well be on the cusp of a new day in Indian policy in America, if proper consideration is given to this global imperative.

Using the Afrocentric Method in Researching Indigenous African Culture

Abstract: The article highlights the realities and dynamics facing researchers researching indigenous African culture. The cultural aspirations, understandings, and practices of African indigenous people should position researchers to implement and organize the research process. Suggestions are also made for implementing the "Afrocentric method," and how to use African indigenous culture as a foundation for the Afrocentric method. The intent of this article is to stimulate enlightened discussion about the definition, mechanisms, and purpose of the Afrocentric method as an appropriate research method for indigenous African culture and how it can be used as a complement to qualitative research methods. Key Words: Afrocentric Method, Indigenous African Culture, Indigenous Knowledge, African Centred Research, Collective Identity, Holistic Orientation, and Ubuntu Introduction Since colonial invasions, African indigenous culture has weathered rapid change. Many researchers made real attempts to get inside the African culture, but even so, there was a tendency to see culture in terms of the coloniser's precepts and to assess educational needs in terms of the coloniser's agenda. When establishing formal education there was no adequate reference to the indigenous education that Africans already had or to the depth of the ancestral opinions that influenced African thinking. Even at present, researchers who are interested in indigenous culture and education have made small reference in assessing change to the extent in which African values have survived, or of the extent to which these values had continued to influence African researchers' actions at different points in time. It is important that researchers remind themselves that much of the literature on African culture and education can be ideologically traced back to the emergence of "knowledge" about indigenous peoples in the context of European imperialism and expansion. In brief, Africans were often judged in European contexts and not in terms of their own. Hence, the following questions are asked: How can the Afrocentric method as advanced by Asante (1987, 1988, 1990, 1995) be used in researching African indigenous culture and can African research refrain from sticking to the pathways mapped out by the colonial or neo-colonial experts? The purpose of this article is to show ways that the Afrocentric method can be used for researching indigenous culture. As an African in South Africa I have received education in a country that has openly marginalised African indigenous knowledge. Now as a democratic country South Africa is engaged in the unfolding process of bringing African indigenous knowledge systems into focus as a legitimate field of academic enquiry in its own right. I have attended several conferences and workshops in South Africa where debates and issues have become critical and intense regarding conceptual frameworks and methodological procedures, which the indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) field presents. It is in this light that I explore the Afrocentric method as an alternative method to study IKS. The Afrocentric Paradigm Unpacked The Afrocentric method is derived from the Afrocentric paradigm which deals with the question of African identity from the perspective of African people as centred, located, oriented, and grounded. This idea has been named "Afrocentricity" by Molefe Asante (1987) in order to convey the profound need for African people to be re-located historically, economically, socially, politically, and philosophically. He explained Afrocentricity as follows: To say that we are decentred means essentially that we have lost our own cultural footing and become other than our cultural and political origins, dis-located and dis-oriented. We are essentially insane, that is, living an absurdity from which we will never be able to free our minds until we return to the source. Afrocentricity as a theory of change intends to relocate the African person as subject. …

A review of the past, the present, and the future of fishers' knowledge research: a challenge to established fisheries science

Abstract: Fishers’ knowledge research is an approach to fisheries research that has a relatively long history, yet has generally failed to become integrated into the fisheries science mainstream alongside approaches that rely primarily on the knowledge of professional scientists. Its continued position on the margins of fisheries science has not however stopped fishers’ knowledge researchers from publishing an expanding literature, which they often use to advocate for the greater consideration of fishers’ knowledge by fisheries scientists and managers. They believe that the unique and often highly qualitative knowledge of fishers could inform better decision-making, resulting in improved socio-ecological outcomes for fisheries. This review first outlines the scope of the fishers’ knowledge literature, before outlining five waves of fishers’ knowledge research that have developed over the last century. For each wave, the nature of the fishers’ knowledge documented during it is noted, as is the research and dissemination approach taken by its practitioners. The impact of that wave on mainstream fisheries science is then assessed. Overall, it is found that only one wave of fishers’ knowledge research is beginning to have consistent success integrating with mainstream fisheries science, a wave that omits the research of many of the unique elements of fishers’ knowledge. Other waves have died out, or are in danger of dying out, either because they have failed to be noticed by mainstream fisheries scientists or because mainstream fisheries scientists have not welcomed their outputs. It is summarized that fishers’ knowledge research will only continue as a productive activity if mainstream fisheries scientists begin to open their discipline to other knowledge cultures and if fishers’ knowledge researchers facilitate this action by disseminating their research so that it is more accessible to these scientists.

Inuit Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), Subsistence Hunting and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Canadian Arctic

Abstract: This paper examines the role of Inuit traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in adaptation to climate change in the Canadian Arctic. It focuses on Inuit relationships with the Arctic environment, including hunting knowledge and land skills, and examines their roles in adaptation to biophysical changes that affect subsistence hunting. In several instances, TEK underpins competency in subsistence and adaptations to changing conditions, which includes flexibility with regard to seasonal cycles of hunting and resource use, hazard avoidance through detailed knowledge of the environment and understanding of ecosystem processes, and emergency preparedness, e.g., knowing what supplies to take when traveling and how to respond in emergency situations. Despite the documented importance of TEK in adaptation and in maintaining a level of competency in subsistence, the relationships between TEK and adaptation to climate change are not well defined in the scholarly literature. This paper aims to conceptualize the relationships between TEK and adaptation to climate change by drawing on case study research with Inuit in the Canadian Arctic. TEK is considered an element of adaptive capacity (or resilience) that is expressed as adaptation if TEK is drawn upon to adapt to changing conditions. This capacity depends on the development, accumulation, and transmission of TEK within and among generations.

The Impact of Formal Institutions on Knowledge Economy

Abstract: Using Kauffman, Kraay, and Mastruzzi governance indicators, this article analyzes the impact of formal institutions on the knowledge economy- by assessing how the enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) through good governance mechanisms affects the knowledge economy. The article also employs the World Bank’s four components of the knowledge economy index characteristic of its knowledge for development (K4D) framework. We estimate panel data models for 22 Middle East & North African and Sub-Sahara African countries over the period 1996-2010. The results show that for this group of countries the enforcement of IPR laws (treaties), although necessary, is not a sufficient condition for a knowledge economy. The results also suggest that other factors are more likely to determine the knowledge economies of these nations. Overall these findings have important implications for both policy and further research.

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in the environs of Tara-gedam and Amba remnant forests of Libo Kemkem District, northwest Ethiopia

Abstract: Remnant forests found in areas that have long been converted to agricultural landscapes are refuges of wild useful plants; and societies inhabiting them are custodians of rich indigenous botanical knowledge. This study was undertaken to document the medicinal plants used by the people living in and around Tara-gedam and Amba remnant forests, northwestern Ethiopia, together with the associated ethnomedicinal knowledge. Data were collected from 105 informants through semi-structured interviews, guided field walk, market survey; and analyzed using standard ethnobotanical analytical tools including ranking and comparison. A total of 163 medicinal plant species in 145 genera and 67 families were recorded among which Zehneria scabra drew the highest community consensus. Seventy-one percent of the medicinal plants were those used for treating human ailments only, 21% for both human and livestock and 8% for livestock only. Asteraceae, with 14 species, had the highest number of medicinal plant species. The medicinal plants mainly (79.1%) belong to the shrub and herb categories and most of them were sourced from the wild habitats. Leaves and fresh plant materials were more frequently used for medicine preparation than other parts. Protected government and church forests as well as tree propagation in nurseries followed by planting them and local practices constitute the major forest conservation efforts that indirectly protect the medicinal plants in the area. Elders and healers knew more about the medicinal plants, their distribution, the local ethnomedicinal practices and knowledge transfer patterns. Though important for the local healthcare system and with potentials for modern drug discovery, both the plants and the knowledge pool are under threat. The diversity of medicinal plants and the associated indigenous knowledge of Tara-gedam and its environs are of a considerable value to the local community and beyond. There is, therefore, a need for conservation of the vegetation and the medicinal plants along with preservation of the wealth of the indigenous knowledge.

Rapid ecosystem change challenges the adaptive capacity of Local Environmental Knowledge.

Abstract: The use of Local Environmental Knowledge has been considered as an important strategy for adaptive management in the face of Global Environmental Change. However, the unprecedented rates at which global change occurs may pose a challenge to the adaptive capacity of local knowledge systems. In this paper, we use the concept of the shifting baseline syndrome to examine the limits in the adaptive capacity of the local knowledge of an indigenous society facing rapid ecosystem change. We conducted semi-structured interviews regarding perceptions of change in wildlife populations and in intergenerational transmission of knowledge amongst the Tsimane’, a group of hunter-gatherers of Bolivian Amazonia (n = 300 adults in 13 villages). We found that the natural baseline against which the Tsimane’ measure ecosystem changes might be shifting with every generation as a result of (a) age-related differences in the perception of change and (b) a decrease in the intergenerational sharing of environmental knowledge. Such findings suggest that local knowledge systems might not change at a rate quick enough to adapt to conditions of rapid ecosystem change, hence potentially compromising the adaptive success of the entire social-ecological system. With the current pace of Global Environmental Change, widening the gap between the temporal rates of on-going ecosystem change and the timescale needed for local knowledge systems to adjust to change, efforts to tackle the shifting baseline syndrome are urgent and critical for those who aim to use Local Environmental Knowledge as a tool for adaptive management.

Ethnobotanical study on medicinal plants used by Maonan people in China

Abstract: This paper is based on an ethnobotanical investigation that focused on the traditional medicinal plants used by local Maonan people to treat human diseases in Maonan concentration regions. The Maonan people have relied on traditional medicine since ancient times, especially medicinal plants. The aim of this study is to document medicinal plants used by the Maonans and to report the status of medicinal plants and associated traditional knowledge. Ethnobotanical data were collected from June 2012 to September 2014 in Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County, northern Guangxi, southwest China. In total, 118 knowledgeable informants were interviewed. Following statistically sampling method, eighteen villages from 5 townships were selected to conduct field investigations. Information was collected through the approache of participatory observation, semi-structured interviews, ranking exercises, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and participatory rural appraisals. A total of 368 medicinal plant species were investigated and documented together with their medicinal uses by the Maonans, most of which were obtained from the wild ecosystems. The plants were used to treat 95 human diseases. Grinding was a widely used method to prepare traditional herbal medicines. There were significant relationships between gender and age, and between gender and informants’ knowledge of medicinal plant use. Deforestation for agricultural purposes was identified as the most destructive factor of medicinal plants, followed by drought and over-harvest. The species diversity of medicinal plants used by the Maonans in the study area was very rich. Medicinal plants played a significant role in healing various human disorders in the Maonan communities. However, the conflicts between traditional inheriting system and recent socio-economic changes (and other factors) resulted in the reduction or loss of both medicinal plants and associated indigenous knowledge. Thus, conservation efforts and policies, and innovation of inheriting system are necessary for protecting the medicinal plants and associated indigenous knowledge. Awareness is also needed to be raised among local Maonans focusing on sustainable utilization and management of both medicinal plants and traditional knowledge.

Imagining: Creating Spaces for Indigenous Ontologies

Abstract: For at least half a century, catalogers have struggled with how to catalog and classify Native American and Indigenous peoples materials in library, archive, and museum collections. Understanding how colonialism works can help those in the field of knowledge organization appreciate the power dynamics embedded in the marginalization of Native American and Indigenous peoples materials through standardization, misnaming, and other practices. The decolonizing methodology of imagining provides one way that knowledge organization practitioners and theorists can acknowledge and discern the possibilities of Indigenous community-based approaches to the development of alternative information structures.

Bridging knowledge systems to enhance governance of environmental commons: A typology of settings

Abstract: We offer a typology of settings to bridge scientific and indigenous knowledge systems and to enhance governance of the environmental commons in contexts of change. We contribute to a need for further clarity on how to incorporate diverse knowledge systems and in ways that contribute to planning, management, monitoring and assessment from local to global levels. We ask, what settings are discussed in the resource and environmental governance literature to support efforts to bridge indigenous and scientific knowledge systems? The objectives are: 1) to offer a typology that organizes various settings to bridge knowledge systems; and 2) to elaborate on how these settings function independently and in concert, using examples from a diverse literature in addition to field research experience. Our focus is on indigenous and scientific knowledge, but the typology offers lessons to bridge diverse knowledge systems more generally, and in ways that are sensitive to a moral, political and process-based approach. The typology includes specific methods and processes, brokering strategies, governance and institutional contexts, and the arena of epistemology. We describe each setting in the typology, and provide examples to reflect on the function and potential outcomes of different settings. Insights from our synthesis can inform policy and participatory action.

Shifting Cultivation and Environmental Change : Indigenous People, Agriculture and Forest Conservation

Abstract: Shifting cultivation is one of the oldest forms of subsistence agriculture and is still practised by millions of poor people in the tropics. Typically it involves clearing land (often forest) for the growing of crops for a few years, and then moving on to new sites, leaving the earlier ground fallow to regain its soil fertility. This book brings together the best of science and farmer experimentation, vividly illustrating the enormous diversity of shifting cultivation systems as well as the power of human ingenuity. Some critics have tended to disparage shifting cultivation (sometimes called 'swidden cultivation' or 'slash-and-burn agriculture') as unsustainable due to its supposed role in deforestation and land degradation. However, the book shows that such indigenous practices, as they have evolved over time, can be highly adaptive to land and ecology. In contrast, 'scientific' agricultural solutions imposed from outside can be far more damaging to the environment and local communities. The book focuses on successful agricultural strategies of upland farmers, particularly in south and south-east Asia, and presents over 50 contributions by scholars from around the world and from various disciplines, including agricultural economics, ecology and anthropology. It is a sequel to the much praised "Voices from the Forest: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge into Sustainable Upland Farming" (RFF Press, 2007), but all chapters are completely new and there is a greater emphasis on the contemporary challenges of climate change and biodiversity conservation.

Blending Aboriginal and Western healing methods to treat intergenerational trauma with substance use disorder in Aboriginal peoples who live in Northeastern Ontario, Canada

Abstract: As with many Indigenous groups around the world, Aboriginal communities in Canada face significant challenges with trauma and substance use. The complexity of symptoms that accompany intergenerational trauma and substance use disorders represents major challenges in the treatment of both disorders. There appears to be an underutilization of substance use and mental health services, substantial client dropout rates, and an increase in HIV infections in Aboriginal communities in Canada. The aim of this paper is to explore and evaluate current literature on how traditional Aboriginal healing methods and the Western treatment model “Seeking Safety” could be blended to help Aboriginal peoples heal from intergenerational trauma and substance use disorders. A literature search was conducted using the keywords: intergenerational trauma, historical trauma, Seeking Safety, substance use, Two-Eyed Seeing, Aboriginal spirituality, and Aboriginal traditional healing. Through a literature review of Indigenous knowledge, most Indigenous scholars proposed that the wellness of an Aboriginal community can only be adequately measured from within an Indigenous knowledge framework that is holistic, inclusive, and respectful of the balance between the spiritual, emotional, physical, and social realms of life. Their findings indicate that treatment interventions must honour the historical context and history of Indigenous peoples. Furthermore, there appears to be strong evidence that strengthening cultural identity, community integration, and political empowerment can enhance and improve mental health and substance use disorders in Aboriginal populations. In addition, Seeking Safety was highlighted as a well-studied model with most populations, resulting in healing. The provided recommendations seek to improve the treatment and healing of Aboriginal peoples presenting with intergenerational trauma and addiction. Other recommendations include the input of qualitative and quantitative research as well as studies encouraging Aboriginal peoples to explore treatments that could specifically enhance health in their respective communities.

Indigenous Knowledge and Public Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract: The discourse on indigenous knowledge has incited a debate of epic proportions across the world over the years. In Africa, especially in the sub-Saharan region, while the so-called indigenous communities have always found value in their own local forms of knowledge, the colonial administration and its associates viewed indigenous knowledge as unscientific, illogical, anti-development, and/or ungodly. The status and importance of indigenous knowledge has changed in the wake of the landmark 1997 Global Knowledge Conference in Toronto, which emphasised the urgent need to learn, preserve, and exchange indigenous knowledge. Yet, even with this burgeoning interest and surging call, little has been done, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, to guarantee the maximum exploitation of indigenous knowledge for the common good. In view of this realisation, this paper discusses how indigenous knowledge can and should both act as a tool for promoting the teaching/learning process in Africa’s public education and address the inexorably enigmatic amalgam of complex problems and cataclysms haunting the world.

Local and indigenous knowledge on climate-related hazards of coastal and small island communities in Southeast Asia

Abstract: Coastal and small island communities in Southeast Asia face daily threats from the impacts of climate change and climate-related hazards. This paper describes and analyses local and indigenous knowledge and practices related to climate-related hazards identified and documented in Indonesia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. These include observations of changes in the environment and celestial bodies to predict climate-related hazards. Communities use local materials and methods to prevent and/or mitigate such hazards, and adapt to and prepare for them. Rituals and ceremonies are based on traditional or religious beliefs. Together with customary laws that govern behaviour, these rituals engender and reinforce respect for the environment, strengthen social cohesion, and thus help communities to better face and respond to the impacts of climate change and climate-related hazards. After going through a process of documentation, analysis and validation, local and indigenous knowledge can be grouped and categorised, which helps us better understand how such knowledge can be integrated with science. This will then enable communities to develop strategies to cope with climate-related hazards and adapt to climate change. Scientists, practitioners and policy-makers can also harness this knowledge for further research, education, and policy. It is important to promote the transmission of local and indigenous knowledge to increase community resilience.

Lichens Used in Traditional Medicine

Abstract: Lichens are used in traditional medicines by cultures across the world, particularly in temperate and arctic regions. Knowledge of these medicinal uses is available to us because of the contributions of traditional knowledge holders in these cultures.

Education policy borrowing in China: Has the West wind overpowered the East wind?

Abstract: Recent education reform in China reflects the global trend of education policy borrowing from Anglophone countries such as the USA. The reform in China essentially advocates shifting from knowledge reproduction and didacticism to knowledge construction by students through a learner-centredness approach. Aware of the trend of borrowing policy from ‘Western’ countries, some educators in China use the proverb ‘the West wind has overpowered the East wind’ to describe this phenomenon. This paper examines the cultural factors that influence education policy borrowing in China by drawing upon Johnson’s metaphors of the ‘politics of selling’ and the ‘politics of gelling’. This paper argues that there exist fundamental cultural differences between Western and Chinese perspectives on the nature and transmission of knowledge that make education policy transfer in China challenging. This paper further proposes that China borrow education policy judiciously by integrating foreign and indigenous sources of knowledge, t...

Factors influencing local ecological knowledge maintenance in Mediterranean watersheds: Insights for environmental policies

Abstract: Local ecological knowledge (LEK) has been found to be one of the main bridges to manage biocultural diversity. We analyzed the factors affecting LEK maintenance and transmission in a Mediterranean watershed. We used a mixed methods approach to evaluate the agricultural LEK in three different dimensions: biological, soil and water management, and forecasting. We found that the main factors for its maintenance were the respondent's time living in the area and the social relationships established among farmers, which involved partner collaboration and farmer information exchanges. Protected areas also played a key role for maintaining the LEK associated with soil and water management. Finally, we found that outmigration and mechanization were the most important indirect drivers of change underlying LEK erosion. We suggest that environmental policies should focus on promoting this experiential knowledge, considering both intergenerational renewal and the gendered aspects of this knowledge.

Do conservation and agri-environmental regulations effectively support traditional small-scale farming in East-Central European cultural landscapes?

Abstract: High biocultural diversity is often found in landscapes where farming practices have preserved diverse habitats and many ‘traditional’ cultural features. We assessed what impacts conservation and agri-environmental regulations had and have on the maintenance of some elements in traditional hay meadow management in two such cultural landscapes (Gyimes—Romania; Őrseg—Hungary). Data were gathered by interviews with local farmers and conservation scientists, discussed with farmers. We found that extensive farming was not given adequate weight and explicit function in the regulatory frameworks either in the landscape where traditional farming is still actively practiced, or where it has mostly vanished and/or was transformed. Of the 25 traditional management elements documented in Gyimes, regulations affected seven components directly, and one more indirectly. Four of these impacts were negative and four were positive. Of the 20 traditional management elements in Őrseg, 11 elements were regulated, and five more were affected indirectly. Only two elements were affected positively. Our data show that for a more efficient support of traditional farming, more traditional elements must be encouraged, e.g. hayseed scattering, mowing with small machinery, manual cleaning of weeds and shrubs, manual hay gathering and extensive manuring. The role of increasing the spatial scale of regulations, considering the whole socio-ecological system and the need for region-specific regulations are discussed. We argue that in those landscapes where traditional small-scale farming is still actively practiced, decision-makers should understand local management practices and concepts first, instead of imposing requirements on farmers that are alien to the local landscape and society.

Research as Cultural Renewal: Applying Two-Eyed Seeing in a Research Project about Cultural Interventions in First Nations Addictions Treatment.

Abstract: This article explores the application of two-eyed seeing in the first year of a three-year study about the effectiveness of cultural interventions in First Nations alcohol and drug treatment in Canada. Two-eyed seeing is recognized by Canada’s major health research funder as a starting point for bringing together the strengths of Indigenous and Western ways of knowing. With the aim of developing a culture-based measurement tool, our team carried out an Indigenous-centred research process with our interpretation of two-eyed seeing as a guiding principle. This enabled us to engage in a decolonizing project that prioritized Indigenous methodologies and ways of knowing and knowledge alongside those of Western science. By concentrating on Indigenous governance in the research process, our project supported efforts at Indigenous cultural renewal. Two illustrations are offered, our team’s reconceptualization of Western derived understandings of data collection through Indigenous storytelling and our research grant timeframe with Indigenous knowledge gardening. This article contributes to the Indigenous research and policy literature which is lacking documentation about how Indigenous communities and research teams are benefitting from two-eyed seeing.

Local knowledge about fodder plants in the semi-arid region of Northeastern Brazil

Abstract: This study evaluated local knowledge of the fodder plants of the Caatinga in northeast Brazil (seasonal dry forest). Specifically, the goal was to catalog local knowledge regarding the use of native and exotic forage plants in two rural communities located in the state of Paraiba (northeast Brazil), to provide information for nutritional investigations and to verify how the knowledge of these resources is distributed. The communities were followed for three consecutive years, and interviews were conducted with 44 families (20 men and 24 women). Nine of these individuals were determined by the snowball technique to be key informants who held more specific knowledge about the topic. The data were structured into a database and statistically analyzed. Overall, 136 plants from 37 families and 113 genera were cited, and the knowledge of men was at a higher level than that of women (p < 0.05). Participants demonstrated a sophisticated knowledge of nutritional characteristics such as nutritional value, palatability, availability and productivity. Native plants were highlighted over the exotic, especially for species of the families Cactaceae, Bromeliaceae and Fabaceae. The great diversity of plants cited by the informants demonstrates the potential of local vegetation and the importance of traditional knowledge in the research process and in the characterization of forage resources. This diversity also favors the selection of promising species for future biotechnological investigations.

Ethnobotanical inventory and folk uses of indigenous plants from Pir Nasoora National Park, Azad Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract: Objective To document the medicinal and other folk uses of native plants of the area with a view to preserve the ethnobotanical knowledge associated with this area. Methods The fieldwork was conducted during a period of one year. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and interviews with indigenous tribal people and traditional health practitioners residing in the study area. Results The present study documented ethnobotanical uses of 104 plant species belonged to 93 genera and 51 families. Results revealed that most of the documented species were used medicinally (78 spp., 44.07%). Leaves were found to be the most frequently used part (69 spp., 42.86%) for the preparation of indigenous recipes and for fodder. Conclusions The current research contributes significantly to the ethnobotanical knowledge, and depicts a strong human-plant interaction. There is an urgent need to further document indigenous uses of plants for future domestication.

Tribal Archives, Traditional Knowledge, and Local Contexts: Why the “s” Matters

Abstract: Christen, Kimberly. Tribal Archives, Traditional Knowledge, and Local Contexts: Why the "s" Matters. Journal of Western Archives. 2015, Vol. 6, Issue. 1, Article 3.

Desertification Research in Argentina

Abstract: In Latin America, Argentina is second – behind Brazil – in extent of drylands: 55% of its territory. Research on desertification and dryland degradation has a lengthy tradition, being undertaken even prior to the establishment of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. The paper aims to analyse desertification research in Argentina, the disciplines from which its knowledge arises and the topics receiving greater attention. The work focuses on the results from descriptive, bibliometric and social network analyses of a sample of articles on desertification in scientific journals indexed in Web of Science. A visual representation of citation relationships was created considering keywords such as ‘desertification’, ‘dry*land*’, ‘*arid’ and ‘development’, ‘policy’ or ‘economy’ among others, in ‘Argentina’. According to this search, the number of papers per year dealing with desertification in Argentina is only 4·3. National knowledge, usually categorized as traditional knowledge, is barely captured by international databases. The challenge for the scientific community is to make traditional knowledge visible and disseminate the findings. Results demonstrate that desertification research in Argentina is in a great proportion related to studies of soil erosion and soil degradation, and only in a minor proportion to socioeconomic issues. However, desertification problems are the outcome of interactions among physical–biological, socioeconomic and political dimensions, and therefore, the science summoned to analyse them must not only be a science centred on isolated themes but also one resulting from interdisciplinary studies and integrated approaches. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Participatory action research and researcher’s responsibilities: an experience with an Indigenous community

Abstract: This paper seeks to explore the relational participatory action research (PAR) frameworks that have been developed to allow non-Indigenous researchers, along with Indigenous co-researcher participants, to learn and honour Indigenous stories. Specifically, in the context of PAR research in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, we outline: (a) potential challenges between Indigenous research paradigms and Western research paradigms, (b) the situation of the non-Indigenous researcher in relation to the Indigenous community, (c) challenges associated with the non-Indigenous researcher’s selection of a research site, (d) collaboration throughout the research process and (e) the processes of developing and maintaining responsibilities. The aim is not to offer simple answers to such challenges, but to highlight the manner in which such processes can be addressed. This research may provide practical insight for future non-Indigenous researchers working with Indigenous communities through a participatory shari...