Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In the introduction to this special issue on ethnobiology and philosophy, we consider how the included papers show that ethnobiology is an inherently pluralist project that has a unique potential to foster inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives on issues such as the complex multispecies relations between humans and non-humans that one finds in livelihood practices such as farming and fishing, in conservation management, or in industrial resource extraction, which need to be addressed to deal with planetary challenges from climate change to food inequality. We also argue that a pluralist ethnobiology moves beyond priority disputes between different disciplines by recognizing that its foundations are inherently diverse but still embraces intellectual synthesis that brings insights from various fields together. We provide, finally, an overview of the contributions to the special issue.

Keywords

philosophy of ethnobiology history of ethnobiology pluralism interdisciplinarity transdisciplinarity

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Albuquerque

De Medeiros

Casas

. 2015. Evolutionary Ethnobiology. Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19917-7

Albuquerque

U. P.

Ludwig

Feitosa

I. S.

de Moura

J. M. B.

de Medeiros

P. M.

Gonçalves

P. H. S.

da Silva

R. H.

da Silva

T. C.

Gonçalves-Souza

Ferreira Junior

W. S.

. 2020. “Addressing Social-Ecological Systems Across Temporal and Spatial Scales: A Conceptual Synthesis for Ethnobiology.” Human Ecology 48: 557–571. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00189-7

Anderson

2012. “Epistemic Justice as a Virtue of Social Institutions.” Social Epistemology 26: 163–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2011.652211

Arabatzis

Howard

. 2015. “Introduction: Integrated History and Philosophy of Science in Practice.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 50: 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2014.10.002

Armstrong

C. G.

McAlvay

A. C.

. 2019. “Introduction to Special Section on Action Ethnobiology.” Journal of Ethnobiology 39 (1): 3–13. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-39.1.3

Athayde

Stepp

J. R.

Ballester

W. C.

. 2016. “Engaging Indigenous and Academic Knowledge on Bees in the Amazon: Implications for Environmental Management and Transdisciplinary Research.” Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 12 (1): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-016-0093-z

Bollettin

El-Hani

C. N.

Ludwig

. 2023. “The Challenges of Symmetrical Dialogue: Reflections on Collaborative Research in Northeast Brazil.” Ethnobiology Letters 14 (2): 47–55. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.14.2.2023.1836

Byskov

M. F.

2020. “Four Challenges to Knowledge Integration for Development and the Role of Philosophy in Addressing Them.” Journal of Global Ethics 16 (3): 262–282. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449626.2020.1858324

Chambers

J. M.

Wyborn

Ryan

M. E.

Reid

R. S.

Riechers

Serban

Bennett

N. J.

, et al. 2021. “Six Modes of co-Production for Sustainability.” Nature Sustainability 4 (11): 983–996. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00755-x

10.

Clément

1998. “The Historical Foundations of Ethnobiology (1860–1899).” Journal of Ethnobiology 18: 161–161. https://biostor.org/reference/175164

11.

Fowler

C. S.

2019. “Applied Ethnobiology and Advocacy: A Case Study from the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe of Death Valley, California.” Journal of Ethnobiology 39 (1): 76–89. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-39.1.76

12.

Fricker

2007. Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198237907.001.0001

13.

Galison

2010. “Trading with the Enemy.” In Trading Zones and Interactional Expertise: Creating New Kinds of Collaboration, edited by Gorman

Michael E.

, 147–175. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/8351.003.0004

14.

Hunn

2007. “Ethnobiology in Four Phases.” Journal of Ethnobiology 27 (1): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771(2007)27[1:EIFP]2.0.CO;2

15.

Kendig

2020. “Ontology and Values Anchor Indigenous and Grey Nomenclatures: A Case Study in Lichen Naming Practices among the Samí, Sherpa, Scots, and Okanagan.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 84: 101340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2020.101340

16.

Ludwig

2016. “Overlapping Ontologies and Indigenous Knowledge. From Integration to Ontological Self-Determination.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 59: 36–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2016.06.002

17.

Ludwig

2018a. “Revamping the Metaphysics of Ethnobiological Classification.” Current Anthropology 59: 415–438. https://doi.org/10.1086/698958

18.

Ludwig

2018b. “Does Cognition Still Matter in Ethnobiology?” Ethnobiology Letters 9: 269–275. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.9.2.2018.1350

19.

Ludwig

El-Hani

C. N.

. 2020. “Philosophy of Ethnobiology: Understanding Knowledge Integration and its Limitations.” Journal of Ethnobiology 40 (1): 3–20. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-40.1.3

20.

Ludwig

Ruphy

. 2021. “Scientific Pluralism.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-pluralism/.

21.

Massimi

2022. Perspectival Realism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

22.

McAlvay

A. C.

Armstrong

C. G.

Baker

Elk

L. B.

Bosco

Hanazaki

Joseph

, et al. 2021. “Ethnobiology Phase VI: Decolonizing Institutions, Projects, and Scholarship.” Journal of Ethnobiology 41 (2): 170–191. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-41.2.170

23.

Mitchell

S. D.

2004. “Why Integrative Pluralism?” E:CO 6 (1/2): 81.

24.

Peddi

Ludwig

Dessein

. 2023. “Relating Inclusive Innovations to Indigenous and Local Knowledge: A Conceptual Framework.” Agriculture and Human Values 40 (1): 395–408. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10344-z

25.

Renck

Ludwig

Bollettin

Amorim Reis-Filho

Poliseli

El-Hani

C. N.

. 2023. “Taking Fishers’ Knowledge and Its Implications to Fisheries Policy Seriously.” Ecology and Society 2: 28. https://ecologyandsociety.org/vol28/iss2/art7/ .

26.

Renck

Ludwig

Bollettin

El-Hani

C. N.

. 2022. “Exploring Partial Overlaps Between Knowledge Systems in a Brazilian Fishing Community.” Human Ecology 4 (50): 633–649. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-022-00335-3

27.

Robles-Piñeros

Ludwig

Baptista

G. C. S.

Molina-Andrade

. 2020. “Intercultural Science Education as a Trading Zone Between Traditional and Academic Knowledge.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 84: 101337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2020.101337

28.

Sillitoe

2006. “Ethnobiology and Applied Anthropology: Rapprochement of the Academic with the Practical.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 12: S119–S142. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2006.00276.x

29.

Vandebroek

Pieroni

Stepp

J. R.

Hanazaki

Ladio

Alves

R. R. N.

Picking

, et al. 2020. “Reshaping the Future of Ethnobiology Research After the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Nature Plants 6 (7): 723–730. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-020-0691-6

30.

Vijayan

Ludwig

Rybak

Kaechele

Hoffmann

Schönfeldt

H. C.

Mbwana

H. A.

Rivero

C. V.

Löhr

. 2022. “Indigenous Knowledge in Food System Transformations.” Communications Earth & Environment 3 (1): 213. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00543-1

31.

Villagómez-Reséndiz

2020. “Mapping Styles of Ethnobiological Thinking in North and Latin America: Different Kinds of Integration Between Biology, Anthropology, and TEK.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 84: 101308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2020.101308

32.

Viveiros De Castro

2015. Cannibal Metaphysics. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

33.

Weiskopf

D. A.

2020. “Representing and Coordinating Ethnobiological Knowledge.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 84: 101328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2020.101328

34.

Wolverton

2013. “Ethnobiology 5: Interdisciplinarity in an Era of Rapid Environmental Change.” Ethnobiology Letters 4: 21–25. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.4.2013.11

35.

Wyndham

F. S.

Lepofsky

Tiffany

. 2011. “Taking Stock in Ethnobiology: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” Journal of Ethnobiology 31 (1): 110–127. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-31.1.110

Pluralist Ethnobiology: Between Philosophical Reflection and Transdisciplinary Action

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References