A Review on the Articles of Darrell Addison Posey and Roy Ellen & Holly Harris
Summary
Posey (2000) started with his discussion on the importance of indigenous knowledge (IK) or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). He explained that IK was used for advancing hypotheses and enriching scientific knowledge, conservation of development projects and was employed in the ‘shift from implementing top-down management to community-based participation.’ The author also reiterated that IK is not a compilation of facts but is holistic, evolving and used in different aspects of contemporary life. He went on to defend that IK is used in the ‘sustainable utilization of natural resources and these are embodied in traditional livelihood systems’ based on historical evidence. The sustainable utilization of traditional livelihood systems is referred by the author as ‘conservation ethic’ of indigenous systems.
Despite the importance of IK, Posey (2000) pointed out the inability of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to protect the IK systems in the traditional communities. IPR, which is supposedly ‘a mechanism for equitable sharing and protection,’ only protect the economic interest of individuals in western societies. As such, the author persuades those studying IK to develop alternative methods. He proposed a ‘rights-based Traditional Resource Rights concept as a catalyst to transform conflict into conciliation.’
The discussion of Posey (2000) is much related to Ellen & Harris (2000) article on indigenous and environmental knowledge and its transformation. They went on to expound IK and its characteristics, historical evidence of IK collection to support the advancement of western science and technology by means of decontextualization. Arguments were presented on the recognition of local knowledge. Positivists wanted to make it universal by eliminating ‘imperfection and subjectivism.’ Post-modernism asserted the view of relativism. Neologism, on the other hand, emphasized mixing local and global to which Robertson (1996) termed as ‘glocal.’ With these wrangles, the authors considered the existence of universal reasoning but believed that these should be ‘activated and experienced in different contexts.’
Critique and Reflection
Increasing interest to IK leads to finding means to protect indigenous and local knowledge. This is directed to the realization that IPR exploits local communities and resources within. IPR, which is supposedly a legal system for ‘equitable sharing and protection,’ is only for those who have the means to avail of it. Biodiversity prospecting, or rather biopiracy at times, of pharmaceutical companies and other private institutions use IPR as a clot to exploit traditional local knowledge and publish such for their gain. This is not surprising, at the least, since IPR is a creation of the west. Thus, intentionally or unintentionally, it favours industrialized nations rather than bioculturally rich developing nations.
Going back to the discussion of Ellen & Harris (2000), the sophisticated advancement of European medicine is the product of long history of bioprospecting. It is with concern that although the intention is good for the provision of medical cures for their people, on one hand, it is the exploitation of traditional societies, on the other hand. I find it comical that western scientists hold IK in low esteem when the medical and scientific knowledge they have is the product of a long history of pirating traditional knowledge. In the guise of fieldwork to accumulate local knowledge and convert it into scientific knowledge, western scientists, thereby, misrepresent the context of which IK or TEK came from.
With the discussion on whether local knowledge should be transformed into global knowledge, I go with the idea that what makes IK significant is its relativity and its application is still embedded in the local because of the meanings attached to it. The trial and error methods applied by the locals in coming up with traditional knowledge is a test of unwavering belief to devise something that has to do in maintaining harmonious relationship to nature and the supernatural.
Question
There is a line at the end of the article of Ellen & Harris (2000) that I find questionable. It says, ‘Indigenous knowledge is dead.’ If the statement is really what is intended, then it defeats the rest of the arguments posted in the article. In fact, it would be deemed pointless. I am wondering if there is a missing word there, the ‘not’ before ‘dead.’ Such a minute word but it implies an opposite standpoint. Optimistically, it was just unintentionally overlooked.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
An Article Review of Stanley Tambiah’s Politics of Ethnicity
The author outlined ethnicity as a possibility for mobilization for political action as opposed to mobilization of both social class and nation state. Ethnic groups try to assert and ‘exercise preferential or affirmative policies on the basis of majority status.’ Tambiah (1989) presented various explanations. One is that majority have become conscious of the role of collective ethnic identity to be manipulated in political action, with the ‘improvement of transport, quick adoption and deployment of modern media, raised levels of education and literacy, and spread of ‘print capitalism’ borrowed from Benedict Anderson (1983). The second is ‘the proliferation and popularization of street theaters and public arenas,’ as venues for staging political rallies, demonstrations and protests. Such occurrences are simultaneously taking place with population explosion and migration from the rural to the metropolitan. Another is the ‘proliferation of schools, colleges, and universities for the mobilization and massing of activists for engaging in political action.’
Parallel to the politicization of ethnicity is the explosion of ethnic conflict, particularly in the newly independent countries. Tambiah (1989) cited various examples that support this claim. He presented a distribution chart that indicated demographic combinations: (1) countries that are homogeneous in ethnic composition, (2) countries that have a dominant ethnic majority, (3) countries that constitute a large ethnic group and having several “minority” groups, (4) countries that have two large dominant groups of the same size, (5) and pluralistic countries composed of many ethnic groups where no one or two are dominant. The above context, along with the colonial legacy of ‘particularizing and standardizing policies,’ intentionally or unintentionally, promoted ethnic divisiveness and conflict.
The politicization of ethnicity reinforce the internationalization of violence exacerbated by technological advancements ‘making us all vicarious spectators and participants responding with our sympathies and our prejudices,’ Tambiah (1989:433). The author proposed 3 overlapping scenarios of contemporary ethnic conflict. One is the erosion of niche equilibrium of a particular group with the inclusion of other ethnic groups of an otherwise ‘closed’ industry. This leads to the possible displacement or dispossession of the ‘specialized minority’. Another scenario is the domination of the majorities to satellite minorities in the periphery that leads the ethnic minorities to be potential secessionists. The third is the threat for retaliations and counteractions attempts to subordinate unranked and equal groups and to incorporate them unequally as inferior citizens.
Tambiah reiterated that ‘there is a universalizing and homogenizing trend’ that makes people of contemporary societies and countries alike by wanting the same material and social benefits of modernization.’ On the other hand, these people assert their claim to be different based on their ascriptive identity, linguistic difference, ethnic membership, and rights to the soil, and, they wanted that such differences ‘should be basis for the distribution of modern benefits and rewards.’
I was given an insight on the historical analogy on ethnicity and a picture of ethnic distributions to establish the existence of ethnic groups and the conditions why these groups are easily politicized. I support the stand of the author that, indeed, colonization has a part in the conception of ethnic conflict.
Along with modernization and progress, the concept of ethnicity is still changing and given new meanings and categories. Constant reinvention of labels and boundaries takes effect. Observations of these times reveal ethnic conflict coupled with the violence that comes with, of which, is inimical for the state and the people. Yet, these actions are inevitable and mechanisms are useful to cope with such times.
Parallel to the politicization of ethnicity is the explosion of ethnic conflict, particularly in the newly independent countries. Tambiah (1989) cited various examples that support this claim. He presented a distribution chart that indicated demographic combinations: (1) countries that are homogeneous in ethnic composition, (2) countries that have a dominant ethnic majority, (3) countries that constitute a large ethnic group and having several “minority” groups, (4) countries that have two large dominant groups of the same size, (5) and pluralistic countries composed of many ethnic groups where no one or two are dominant. The above context, along with the colonial legacy of ‘particularizing and standardizing policies,’ intentionally or unintentionally, promoted ethnic divisiveness and conflict.
The politicization of ethnicity reinforce the internationalization of violence exacerbated by technological advancements ‘making us all vicarious spectators and participants responding with our sympathies and our prejudices,’ Tambiah (1989:433). The author proposed 3 overlapping scenarios of contemporary ethnic conflict. One is the erosion of niche equilibrium of a particular group with the inclusion of other ethnic groups of an otherwise ‘closed’ industry. This leads to the possible displacement or dispossession of the ‘specialized minority’. Another scenario is the domination of the majorities to satellite minorities in the periphery that leads the ethnic minorities to be potential secessionists. The third is the threat for retaliations and counteractions attempts to subordinate unranked and equal groups and to incorporate them unequally as inferior citizens.
Tambiah reiterated that ‘there is a universalizing and homogenizing trend’ that makes people of contemporary societies and countries alike by wanting the same material and social benefits of modernization.’ On the other hand, these people assert their claim to be different based on their ascriptive identity, linguistic difference, ethnic membership, and rights to the soil, and, they wanted that such differences ‘should be basis for the distribution of modern benefits and rewards.’
I was given an insight on the historical analogy on ethnicity and a picture of ethnic distributions to establish the existence of ethnic groups and the conditions why these groups are easily politicized. I support the stand of the author that, indeed, colonization has a part in the conception of ethnic conflict.
Along with modernization and progress, the concept of ethnicity is still changing and given new meanings and categories. Constant reinvention of labels and boundaries takes effect. Observations of these times reveal ethnic conflict coupled with the violence that comes with, of which, is inimical for the state and the people. Yet, these actions are inevitable and mechanisms are useful to cope with such times.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
A Comparative Review on the Methods Used in the Studies on Sexuality Among Young Women
To have a better comparison in the use of quantitative and qualitative research, I compared two studies on sexuality. One is the article on “Femininity and Sexual Agency Among Young Unmarried Women in Hanoi” by Quach (2008) and the other is on “Young Women's Degree of Control Over First Intercourse: An Exploratory Analysis” by Abma et al. (1998). There are quite a few citations from the articles that I have included to establish and clearly recognize the difference between the methods used by the authors.
The first article used qualitative method in the study on sexuality of young professional women of Hanoi. Purposive sampling was applied to identify the participants of the study. It was mentioned in the article that ‘a snowball method’ was used, but ‘attention was paid to the diversity of sexual experiences and social background of the key person’ (Quach 2008: 152) to avoid a ‘single social network’. Along with it, the participants were chosen according to a set of criteria as follows: (1) they were not legally married before the time of interview but had had boyfriend(s)/girlfriend(s); (2) their ages ranged from 25-34 years; (3) they were educated women, who had completed undergraduate study at least; (4) they were working and financially independent. The author used narrative analysis in ‘examining processes of negotiation and re-negotiation in the construction of sexual identities and subjectivities’ (Quach 2008: 152).
Quach (2008) mentioned that the 13 respondents were interviewed several times to have an in-depth understanding of sexual experiences and meanings. Quotes from them were included in the article. The incorporation of ‘voices’ established the participants’ perspectives on their experiences adding richness to the study.
Abma et al. (1998), on the other hand, employed quantitative technique in their study. A survey is made periodically by the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) of the US and this is where the data was obtained. It was mentioned that the ‘probability sample is 10,847 non-institutionalized women aged 15-44 in the civilian population’. A rating scale of 1-10 was used to rate the wantedness of the participants’ first premarital intercourse. A Statistical procedure was used to explain the results. In the study, a ‘Logistic regression analysis of data for women aged 15-24 was performed to test the effect of background factors and wantedness scores on contraceptive use at voluntary first intercourse. Analysis, however, was restricted to the 2,933 women aged 15-24 at the time of the survey.’
There was an attempt to delve into the relativity of first time intercourse experience with Black women and Hispanic women as the authors oversampled to, according to them, ‘facilitate the analysis of many phenomena within these racial and ethnic groups’ (Abma et. Al (1998). Yet, such inclusion, including the large number of respondents from the teenager and young adult groups, was not sufficient to have an in-depth relative analysis of the groups because of the limitations of a structured survey questionnaire that the interviewers used to gather the data. In the analysis portion, percentages and correlation of variables were used. This, in effect, is a generalization of the results. Interpretation of responses using the rating scale of wantedness did not give a space for individual analysis of perceptions and meanings of the responses, although the authors recognized such limitations in the end.
References:
Abma, J., Driscoll, A., & Moore, K. (1998, January/February). Family Planning Perspectives Volume 30, Number 1. Retrieved July 17, 2008 from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3001298.pdf
Aggleton, P (2008) Culture, Health and Sexuality. An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care, Volume 10, Supplement ISSN: 1369-1058. London, Routledge, June 2008, pp 151-161.
The first article used qualitative method in the study on sexuality of young professional women of Hanoi. Purposive sampling was applied to identify the participants of the study. It was mentioned in the article that ‘a snowball method’ was used, but ‘attention was paid to the diversity of sexual experiences and social background of the key person’ (Quach 2008: 152) to avoid a ‘single social network’. Along with it, the participants were chosen according to a set of criteria as follows: (1) they were not legally married before the time of interview but had had boyfriend(s)/girlfriend(s); (2) their ages ranged from 25-34 years; (3) they were educated women, who had completed undergraduate study at least; (4) they were working and financially independent. The author used narrative analysis in ‘examining processes of negotiation and re-negotiation in the construction of sexual identities and subjectivities’ (Quach 2008: 152).
Quach (2008) mentioned that the 13 respondents were interviewed several times to have an in-depth understanding of sexual experiences and meanings. Quotes from them were included in the article. The incorporation of ‘voices’ established the participants’ perspectives on their experiences adding richness to the study.
Abma et al. (1998), on the other hand, employed quantitative technique in their study. A survey is made periodically by the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) of the US and this is where the data was obtained. It was mentioned that the ‘probability sample is 10,847 non-institutionalized women aged 15-44 in the civilian population’. A rating scale of 1-10 was used to rate the wantedness of the participants’ first premarital intercourse. A Statistical procedure was used to explain the results. In the study, a ‘Logistic regression analysis of data for women aged 15-24 was performed to test the effect of background factors and wantedness scores on contraceptive use at voluntary first intercourse. Analysis, however, was restricted to the 2,933 women aged 15-24 at the time of the survey.’
There was an attempt to delve into the relativity of first time intercourse experience with Black women and Hispanic women as the authors oversampled to, according to them, ‘facilitate the analysis of many phenomena within these racial and ethnic groups’ (Abma et. Al (1998). Yet, such inclusion, including the large number of respondents from the teenager and young adult groups, was not sufficient to have an in-depth relative analysis of the groups because of the limitations of a structured survey questionnaire that the interviewers used to gather the data. In the analysis portion, percentages and correlation of variables were used. This, in effect, is a generalization of the results. Interpretation of responses using the rating scale of wantedness did not give a space for individual analysis of perceptions and meanings of the responses, although the authors recognized such limitations in the end.
References:
Abma, J., Driscoll, A., & Moore, K. (1998, January/February). Family Planning Perspectives Volume 30, Number 1. Retrieved July 17, 2008 from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3001298.pdf
Aggleton, P (2008) Culture, Health and Sexuality. An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care, Volume 10, Supplement ISSN: 1369-1058. London, Routledge, June 2008, pp 151-161.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)