Philosophy of Ethnobiology: Understanding Knowledge Integration and Its Limitations

Ludwig, David; El-Hani, Charbel Niño

doi:10.2993/0278-0771-40.1.3

Cited by 75 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 91 publications

(124 reference statements)

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“…Awareness of diverse epistemologies, however, does not in itself lead to knowledge integration. Instead, there may be partial overlaps as well as gaps between different knowledge systems, such as indigenous knowledge and conventional Western science (Ludwig & El-Hani, 2020 ).…”

Section: Implications For Governing Food System Transformation and Food System Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

How food systems change (or not): governance implications for system transformation processes

2021

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This paper argues that supporting food system transformation requires more than obtaining science-based understanding and analysis of how components in the system interact. We argue that changing the emergent properties of food systems (what we call food system synthesis) is a socio-political challenge that is affected by competing views regarding system boundaries and purposes, and limited possibilities for central steering and control. We point to different traditions of ‘systems thinking’ that each emphasize particular types of interventions for achieving system change, and argue that food systems are best looked at as complex multi-dimensional systems. This implies that we need to move beyond rational engineering approaches to system change, and look for approaches that anticipate and accommodate inherent social tensions and struggles in processes of changing food system dynamics and outcomes. Through a case study on the persistence of an undesired emergent property of food systems (i.e. poverty) we demonstrate that a multi-level perspective (MLP) on system transformation is useful in understanding both how food system transformation has happened in the past, and how desirable transformations is prevented from happening today. Based on such insights we point to key governance strategies and principles that may be used to influence food system transformation as a non-linear and long-term process of competition, negotiation and reconfiguration. Such strategies include the creation and nurturing of diversity in the system, as well as process interventions aimed at visioning, destabilization and formation of discourse coalitions. Such governance interventions imply a considerable re-orientation of investments in food system transformation as well as a rethinking of the role that policy-makers may play in either altering or reproducing undesirable system outcomes.

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Section: Implications For Governing Food System Transformation and Food System Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

How food systems change (or not): governance implications for system transformation processes

2021

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“…outcomes for a range of stakeholders (Ludwig and El-Hani 2020). Such mediation is particularly important given the increasing calls for active methods to save coral reefs, which feature more direct interventions in coral biology and ecology, and so are likely to introduce more novelty (Anthony et al 2017).…”

Section: What Counts As Regeneration? Shifts Disagreements and Mediationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distinguishing regeneration from degradation in coral ecosystems: the role of value

Jones

2021

Synthese

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In this paper I argue that the value attributed to coral reefs drives the characterisation of evidence for their regeneration or degradation. I observe that regeneration and degradation depend on an understanding of what an ecosystem looks like when undegraded (a baseline), and that many mutually exclusive baselines can be given for any single case. Consequently, facts about ecological processes are insufficient to usefully and non-arbitrarily characterise changes to ecosystems. By examining how baselines and the value of reefs interact in coral and algal reef examples, I argue that considering the value of an ecosystem is a necessity when describing processes like regeneration and degradation. This connects value as studied in socio-ecological and economic research with values as discussed in the philosophy of science literature. It also explains why such a broad range of processes may be considered regenerative, including those which introduce significant novelty, as well as pointing towards ways to mediate related debates, such as those surrounding novel and ‘pristine’ ecosystems.

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“…In fact, the demarcation problem is currently of limited interest to us. We are much more interested in inquiring into the practices and heuristics that are shared or not by academic science and other knowledge systems (ElHani, C. N., Poliseli, L. and Ludwig, D. 2020, Beyond the divide between traditional and academic knowledge: causal and mechanistic explanations in a Brazilian fishing community, under review in Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences), which can be explored by means of a methodology of partial overlaps (Ludwig and ElHani 2020). 5 We do not use the expression "social distancing", often employed in the literature and media cover on COVID19 (including the cited work), because we agree with the Mind the Gap campaign, from the international foundation Human Rights in Mental HealthFGIP, which considers this expression a damaging one, especially for those in more isolated positions in society: persons with psychosocial and physical disability, as well as elderly persons who reside in care homes (see https:// www.covidandmentalhealth.eu/?fbclid=IwAR1_dpTaT6gtMUCxkr7yBw3NMEZHvDS6owlYMJRUGfoBXgPDuMNzzTsa7_U, Accessed May 11 th 2020).…”

Section: Inter and Transdisciplinarity In Research And Action On Covimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Or could they be closer to successful cases of knowledge integration, such as the bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) census carried out in Alaska incorporating both academic and traditional hunters' knowledge, which resulted in a more accurate estimate of the population than a census carried out using only scientific methods (Huntington 2000)? As knowledge integration can be made only partially (Ludwig and ElHani 2020) and should be pursued without neglecting the very knowledge systems in their entirety, it is worth briefly examining the integration between traditional Chinese and Western medicine in COVID19 treatment. As this is yet an ongoing investigation, we do not intend to present here any consolidated conclusion.…”

Section: Valuing Both Academic Knowledge and The Ecology Of Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19: The need of an integrated and critical view

El-Hani

Machado

2020

Ethnobio Conserv

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To understand and act upon a complex reality like COVID19, we need to integrate knowledge from different academic sciences, in interdisciplinary efforts, and academic knowledge and other knowledge systems, in transdisciplinary processes. Without an integrated view leading to socially robust orientations, we are less likely to successfully navigate our challenging times. However, COVID19 became a "wicked problem", in which there is broad disagreement on what the very 'problem' is, and instead of a "wholeofgovernment, wholeofsociety approach", we find partial solutions that fall short of dealing with the complex dilemmas posed by the wicked problem. To build an integrated view, different scientists and social actors should engage in trust relationships and accept mutual epistemic dependencies, as requisites for a concerted way of understanding and acting on the problem. This is particularly hard, however, in a wicked problem. In building an integrated view on COVID19, the role of academic sciences should be surely recognized, but we should avoid turning this recognition into an advocacy for scientism. It remains necessary to recognize and value the plurality of knowledge systems that span over human history, as well as their integration for mutual learning and concerted action. It is worth briefly examining, then, an integration initiative in COVID19 treatment, namely between traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Finally, an integrated and critical view of COVID19 demands that we cast aside the myth of valuefree science, consider the relationships between values and scientific work, and conceive how knowledge can be objective without being neutral.

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Philosophy of Ethnobiology: Understanding Knowledge Integration and Its Limitations

Cited by 75 publications

References 91 publications

How food systems change (or not): governance implications for system transformation processes

How food systems change (or not): governance implications for system transformation processes

Distinguishing regeneration from degradation in coral ecosystems: the role of value

COVID-19: The need of an integrated and critical view

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