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Ethnobiology for a Diverse World Ethnobiology Emerging From a Time of Crisis

Authors:
Gary Nabhan at University of Arizona
Gary Nabhan
Felice Wyndham at University of Oxford
Felice Wyndham
Dana Lepofsky
Dana Lepofsky
Dana Lepofsky
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Ethnobiology for a Diverse World Ethnobiology Emerging
From a Time of Crisis
Author(s): Gary Paul Nabhan, Felice Wyndham, and Dana Lepofsky
Source: Journal of Ethnobiology, 31(2):172-175.
Published By: Society of Ethnobiology
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-31.2.172
URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.2993/0278-0771-31.2.172
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ETHNOBIOLOGY FOR A DIVERSE WORLD
ETHNOBIOLOGY EMERGING FROM A TIME OF CRISIS
Gary Paul Nabhan, Felice Wyndham and Dana Lepofsky
In an effort to take stock of where ethnobiology is going as a field, a recent
survey revealed not only the changing demography of ethnobiologists, but also
concern for leveraging the insights and applications of the field to address
contemporary ecological and social issues (Wyndham et al. 2011). These crises
include the ongoing and perhaps accelerating loss of both biological and
linguistic diversity (Harmon 2002; Maffi 2001), as well as climate change and the
rising economic, social and health costs resulting from the inequalities between
the rich and the poor. These crises and disparities ultimately impoverish us all
(Wilkinson and Pickett 2009).
Wyndham, Lepofsky and Tiffany (2011) asserted in the previous issue of this
journal that now is the time for ethnobiologists to more actively play a role in
addressing these global crises. Ethnobiologists, perhaps more than any other
group of researchers, have the moral will, the perspectives, the know-how, and
grassroots networks to be potential allies and resources for emerging coalitions of
problem-solvers during such times of dramatic ecosystem and social change.
They term this development of the discipline, ‘‘Ethnobiology 5’’. Ethnobiology 5
takes off from Hunn’s (2007:4) description of a fourth stage of development in
ethnobiology –which has begun to develop in significant ways– ‘‘by and for the
[indigenous] community,’’ recognizing that some of these crises can be addressed
by acknowledging and restoring the deep traditions of indigenous practices.
An Ethnobiology 5 will utilize the field’s unique location at the interstices of
many disciplines and culturally-mediated scientific traditions to address some of
the core problems that we face as a globalized society. Continuing the long
tradition of ethnobiological research, Ethnobiology 5 will be truly multicultural
as well multidisciplinary. This means a commitment to immediately addressing
and engaging in debates regarding the underlying ideological, political economic
assumptions of scientific endeavor. It also means a welcoming of, and mature
generosity toward all points of view, rather than privileging Western science over
indigenous science, or vice-versa. Furthermore, an Ethnobiology 5 must be
bolder, more highly visible, and creative in its communications, relinquishing
its comfortable marginality within academia in order to articulate its positions
and insights more publicly. Why is it that several best-selling books and
Gary Paul Nabhan, Southwest Center, University of Arizona, Tucson (e-mail: gpnabhan@email.
arizona.edu)
Felice Wyndham, Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, 6303 NW Marine Dr.,
Vancouver BC V6T1Z1 Canada (e-mail: felice.wyndham@ubc.ca)
Dana Lepofsky, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.V5A 1S6 Canada
(e-mail: dlepofsk@sfu.ca)
Journal of Ethnobiology 31(2): 172–175 Fall/Winter 2011
internationally-acclaimed films documenting ethnobiology’s contributions have
reached millions of enthusiasts but we have never redirected their ‘‘popular
interest’’ toward our profession as conservation biologists have done? Consid-
ering the number of people who actually study and work in ethnobiology-related
fields, our collective ranks in three professional societies have never surpassed
5,000 members.
Here we discuss two main interacting domains of Ethnobiology 5. The first is
the descriptive, empirical, collaborative and applied processes of assessing
culture-environment interactions that can slowly, steadily, and surely effect
positive social and ecological change. The second is the analytical, epistemolog-
ical and theoretical inquiry taken up by ethnobiologists whose work is in
provocative and creative interaction with indigenous theories, epistemologies
and social action.
Some key aspects and principles of Ethnobiology 5’s descriptive, empirical
research programs include:
NA predilection to do applied science in the service of social and environmental
justice.
NA seamless gradient between ‘‘professional science’’ and ‘‘citizen science’’ that
embraces rather than merely describes the many indigenous sciences.
NTraining of public land managers in landscape ethno-ecology, so that they
understand and protect the indigenous practices of the past and present which
shape cultural landscapes, as well as adhere to attendant legal, political and
intellectual rights and responsibilities.
NProtection, restoration and promotion of cultural practices and knowledge
systems that increase resilience in the face of ecological and social crises, with
particular emphasis on food security, health and livelihoods.
NIncreased public awareness of the structural and political implications of
longue dure
´eindigenous ecological innovation and management.
Some key aspects of the analytical and theoretical elements of Ethnobiology 5
include:
NAn elucidation of theories regarding interactions among the key factors
linking biological, cultural and linguistic diversity through both genes and
demes.
NAn attention to and testing of novel ethical approaches to ‘‘open source
biology and knowledge-sharing’’ that potentially protect seed sovereignty and
traditional ecological knowledge from economic exploitation (Kloppenburg
2010).
NA synthesis of cultural and natural sciences to elaborate the processes of
cultural landscape formation and restoration that provides incentives to land
stewards and communities which maintain or restore ethno-ecosystem
services in those cultural landscapes.
NThe emergence of more ethnobiologists as public intellectuals, who are sought
out for their critical socio-ecological and historically informed insights
to advise on and participate in current events, policy development, and
activism.
Fall/Winter 2011 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 173
In fact, a ‘‘fifth world of ethnobiology,’’ where Western scientific principles,
methodologies and ethics no longer exclusively guide the future development
of this field, may occur through a demographic transformation of its
practitioners that is already in process. If we are correctly reading the trends
of minorities in science periodically compiled and released by the American
Association for the Advancement in Science, by 2020 the majority of students
who will enroll in U.S. graduate schools in the biological sciences and natural
resource management disciplines (including agricultural research) will be
foreign-born (and often of indigenous descent), or labeled as African-, Hispanic-
or Native American according to the rather crude but official U.S. delineations
of these categories.
In essence, there will be fewer graduate students in the U.S. and Canada of
Western European descent than there will be from the diverse cultures not as
historically associated with Western scientific traditions. Of course, some ‘‘ethnic
minority’’ students who enter North American graduate schools will do so
because they have already begun to master the ideologies and methodologies of
Western science, but many will certainly bring world-views, cosmologies and
ethics that may challenge the more restricted paradigms of classical Western
science. While such encounters of Western science with indigenous and other
scientific traditions will be welcomed by many of us in ethnobiology, they will
likely bring about much of the ‘‘blessed unrest’’ that Paul Hawken has
documented in the grassroots organizations in the social and environmental
justice movements (Hawken 2007).
Now is the time to more fully embrace an Ethnobiology 5. If the field of
ethnobiology thoroughly engages this more radical trajectory, we predict there
will be a flowering of ethnobiology that will attract a broader set of
constituencies. That trajectory aims for sustained and critical engagement with
the perspectives of indigenous and local peoples who are recognized as co-
creators of our ethical frameworks, co-designers of healthy and just food systems,
co-actors in landscape conservation and restoration, and co-leaders in a global
conversation that addresses the planetary crises in biological and cultural
diversity, health and survival. As we write, a remarkable public conversation is
emerging about the critical need for structural system change in many regions of
the world. Ethnobiologists potentially have a great deal to contribute to this
conversation. What will those contributions look like?
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man and Netta Wiebe, pp. 152–167. Fern-
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Tiffany
2011 Taking Stock in Ethnobiology: Where
Do We Come From? What Are We? Where
Are We Going? Journal of Ethnobiology 31:
110–127.
Fall/Winter 2011 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 175
... Over time, ethnobiology as a scientific discipline has taken major turns that have been conceptualized as phases (see Table 1) (Clément 1998;Hunn 2007;Nabhan et al. 2011;Wolverton 2013;Wyndham et al. 2011). Rather than mutually exclusive categories or an evolutionary trajectory, these phases highlight major trends and emerging lines of inquiry in the field. ...
... In the twentieth century, additional trends emerged with a focus on local taxonomic systems (Phase II) and traditional ecological knowledge (Phase III). The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries saw increasing attention to ethnobiologists' responsibilities to the communities they work with (Phase IV) and growing application of ethnobiology to global environmental challenges (Phase V) (Nabhan et al. 2011;Wolverton 2013;Wyndham et al. 2011). Ethnobiologists continue to carry out Table 1. ...
... Ethnobiologists continue to carry out Table 1. Five phases of ethnobiology proposed by Clément (1998), Hunn (2007), Wyndham et al. (2011), Nabhan et al. (2011), andWolverton (2013). ...
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Full-text available
  • Jul 2011
Para que la etnobiología como disciplina logre una mayor influencia científica y social, es necesario que los etnobiólogos hagan un balance colectivo de la misma. En 2008, se realizó un estudio sobre los miembros de la Sociedad Internacional de Etnobiología (ISE), Sociedad de Etnobiología (SoE) y de la Sociedad de Botánica Económica (SEB), con el fin de determinar la demografía de estas sociedades, los intereses y prioridades de sus miembros, y el futuro que ellos prevén para cada sociedad y para la disciplina en su conjunto. El hecho de que las tres sociedades compartan relativamente pocos miembros, parece sugerir que las sociedades satisfacen roles substancialmente diferentes. La ISE se esfuerza por ser un punto de encuentro a nivel internacional para todas las personas e instituciones interesadas en la disciplina y atrae sobre todo a biólogos. La SoE se fundó con un énfasis más académico, y la mayoría de sus miembros son norteamericanos y de tradición antropológica. La SEB también es una sociedad de orientación académica, con una fuerte enfoque botánica. Hacemos un llamado a la creación de sinergias y redes entre estas sociedades y a ampliar el espectro de quienes forman la etnobiología para fomentar nuevas visiones y aplicaciones de esta disciplina en la crisis ecológica y social contemporánea. take stock, v. 1. To take an inventory. 2. To make an estimate or appraisal, as of resources or of oneself. take stock in, v. 1. To trust, believe in, or attach importance to. The Free Dictionary
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Ethnobiology in Four Phases
Article
  • Mar 2007
I recognize four phases of ethnobiology: I, II, III, and IV. Ethnobiology I begins well before the formal naming of ethnobiology as a scholarly endeavor at the end of the 19th century. This initial phase has been widely characterized, albeit over simply, as essentially utilitarian. Ethnobiology II was elaborated in the cognitive/linguistic anthropology of the 1960s. Ethnobiology III integrates knowledge with practice, stressing the ecological consequences of knowledge applied to make a living. Ethnobiology IV emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to control their traditional knowledge. I elaborate this framework here and consider how these diverse perspectives might be integrated more effectively in the future.
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The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
  • Jan 2009
  • R Wilkinson
  • K Pickett
Wilkinson, R. and K. Pickett 2009 The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. Bloomsbury Press, New York.
Biocultural Diversity: Linking Language, Knowledge and Environment
  • Jan 2001
  • L Maffi
Maffi, L., ed. 2001 Biocultural Diversity: Linking Language, Knowledge and Environment. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.
Hunn, Eugene. Ethnobiology in Four Phases. Journal of Ethnobiology
Wyndham, Felice S., Lepofsky Dana, and Tiffany Sarah. Taking Stock in Ethnobiology: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? Journal of Ethnobiology
Light of Our Differences: How Diversity in Nature and Culture Make Us Human
  • Jan 2002
  • David Harmon
Harmon, David 2002 In Light of Our Differences: How Diversity in Nature and Culture Make Us Human. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, Washington D.C.
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement of the World Came into Being and Why No one Saw It Coming
  • Jan 2007
  • Paul Hawken
Hawken, Paul 2007 Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement of the World Came into Being and Why No one Saw It Coming. Viking, New York.
Seed Sovereignty: The Promise of Open Source Biology
  • Jan 2010
  • 152-167
  • Jack Kloppenburg
Kloppenburg, Jack, Jr. 2010 Seed Sovereignty: The Promise of Open Source Biology. In Food Sovereignty: Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community, eds. Annette Desmarais, Hannah K. Wittman and Netta Wiebe, pp. 152-167. Fernwood Publishing, Black Point, Nova Scotia.