Western science and traditional knowledge

Mazzocchi, Fulvio

doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400693

Cited by 235 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

118

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However, Western science leans toward analytical and reductionist approaches as opposed to the more intuitive and holistic view often learned in TEK (Mazzocchi 2006). The relationship from the intuition of comprehensive and immersive thinking between traditional aborigines and the mountains is a concept in which components of the entire community, including plants, animals, birds, humans, and even the hydrological system of the forest, affect each other (Chang 2005).…”

Section: Sustain Scimentioning

confidence: 97%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Atayal’s identification of sustainability: traditional ecological knowledge and indigenous science of a hunting culture

Fang

Lee

2015

Sustain Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The history of Taiwan's Indigenous peoples is not well developed in written form, but has been passed down in oral form based on memories from the collective consciousness. However, tracing the cultural roots of Indigenous peoples' concepts of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and science is necessary to more deeply engage with Indigenous epistemologies. The main purpose of this narrative inquiry is to explore traditional concepts of the Indigenous Atayal aborigines of gaga (moral rules) and utux (faith) from a hunting culture, which has constructed their sustainability. This study was performed using qualitative social sciences. We listened to and collected stories by local tribes that live at elevations of 300-1300 m in northern Taiwan, and then conducted an analysis based on a joint construction of cultural meanings from rightsholders such as Atayal officers, tribe leaders, and local hunters. Using concepts from TEK, we determined how these concepts of gaga and utux became established in the lives of the Atayal people, and how Indigenous Atayal hunters have devoted their skills to maintaining the culture which sustains their resilient landscapes and ecosystems. Through the special cultural connotations of hunting knowledge and specifications, the hunting behavior of Taiwan's Atayal can shape a harmonic balance with ecological systems, and facilitate learning about competition and rules of survival in the natural environment.

show abstract

Section: Sustain Scimentioning

confidence: 97%

“…There are some discrepancies between Western science and TEK from different forms and ontologies of knowledge (Mazzocchi 2006). Research indicates that while a strong ecological ethic is common place among Indigenous peoples, it is not an innate characteristic of such populations (Smith and Wishnie 2000;Stearman 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atayal’s identification of sustainability: traditional ecological knowledge and indigenous science of a hunting culture

Fang

Lee

2015

Sustain Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Scientific knowledge is but one form of knowing, to which a diversity of social processes contribute (Nowotny, Scott & Gibbons 2001). Nevertheless, at times, science has exceeded its explicit or implicit claims of supremacy (Haack 2011), becoming disconnected from other forms of knowing (Mazzocchi 2006). Additionally, a culture of specialisation and strong disciplinarity within science has led to a state of internal fragmentation (Weingart 2010) that leaves it blind to complexity and prone to accumulate ignorance (Morin 1990).…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are forms of local and contextually-bound knowledge that are particularly relevant for a given cultural and social setting with a degree of fitness for (local) problems that may exceed that of traditional scientific knowledge. The complexity of the world calls for an the integration of a plurality of ways of knowing and types of knowledge, and an expansion of our horizons (Mazzocchi 2006), as spaces of possibilities for action. But these processes require special attention and purposeful investigation (Raymond, Fazey, Reed, Stringer, Robinson & Evely 2010;Sutherland, Gardner, Haider & Dicks 2013).…”

Section: A Case For An Alliance For Knowledge Integration (Aki)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex systems of knowledge integration: A pragmatic proposal for coordinating and enhancing inter/transdisciplinarity

Melo¹,

Caves²

2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Humanity’s biggest challenges call for organised collective action, informed by the most complex forms of thinking. Different forms of knowledge and practices of knowing operate at different levels of organisation within society. Scientific knowledge is one form of knowing, but the development of science under a culture of disciplinisation and increasing specialisation has led to its fragmentation and blinded it to the possibilities offered by the integration of knowledge. Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity are privileged routes for rich knowledge construction and integration. There is a pressing need for efforts directed toward the intentional construction of a culture where interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary practices may flourish. However, we believe significant change will only occur through the orchestration of a set of activities that attend to the complexity of knowledge construction and integration as emergent outcomes of a complex network of processes and relations that constitute an evolving inter and transdisciplinary ecosystem. In this paper we present a thought experiment in the form of a proposal for the organisation of an Alliance for Knowledge Integration and of Inter/Transdisciplinary Hubs aimed at coordinating collaborative actions and contributions from a diversity of agents and systems from different levels of organisation of society towards richer and more integrated practices of knowing.

show abstract

“…This concept is akin to that of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), which is a contribution to the conservation of biocultural diversity from an integrative perspective (Berkes 1993;Maffi 2001;Mazzocchi 2006;Petch 2000). TBK is defined as a set of knowledge and beliefs about the links between people and the vegetal elements of their surroundings, including plants, parts thereof and their products (Hurrell et al 2011), that are characteristic of so-called "traditional societies".…”

Section: The Ethnobotany Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Ethnobotany an Ecological Science? Steps towards a complex Ethnobotany

Hurrell¹,

Albuquerque

2012

Ethnobio Conserv

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There are different links between ecology and ethnobotany. In principle, because they have some common interests, like the conservation of plant resources. Nevertheless, the consolidation of the ecology as a science of synthesis that is based on the complexity of relationships between organisms and their surroundings, allows the ecology to provide a conceptual framework for more complex and comprehensive ethnobotany. This is also, for origin, a science of synthesis. In this contribution we discuss the basic aspects of ecology that can become guides for a complex framework of ethnobotany, which acts as a context in which their contributions to acquire significance. It also discusses various aspects of ethnobotany which, by its own complexity, are linked to the theoretical framework of ecology. Finally, we consider ethnobotany as an ecological science, from which certain assumptions are given, that can guide investigations based on the complex relationships between people and plants, the object of study of this science.

show abstract

Western science and traditional knowledge

Cited by 235 publications

References 7 publications

Atayal’s identification of sustainability: traditional ecological knowledge and indigenous science of a hunting culture

Atayal’s identification of sustainability: traditional ecological knowledge and indigenous science of a hunting culture

Complex systems of knowledge integration: A pragmatic proposal for coordinating and enhancing inter/transdisciplinarity

Is Ethnobotany an Ecological Science? Steps towards a complex Ethnobotany

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About