Indigenous Knowledge and The Politics of Classification

Indigenous knowledge has come to occupy a privileged position in discussions about how development can best be brought about so that finally, it really is in the interests of the poor and the marginalised. It may be true that contemporary research on and advocacy of indigenous knowledge is founded upon the earlier, pioneering writings of many anthropologists and ethnographers (Conklin 1957, Lewis 1975, Wyman 1964). It is also true that many of the questions that occupied earlier researchers who identified themselves as ethnoscientists continue to haunt current work on indigenous knowledge and peoples. Thus, there is little consensus even today about issues of commensurability of different forms of knowledge, nature of ownership of specific indigenous practices, advisability of compensation, and how to view intensified cross-cultural interactions that potentially pose a threat to indigenous knowledge.