Traditional Knowledge in Contemporary Societies : Challenges and Opportunities

Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Indigenous environmental knowledge today: the context and relevance/Kamal K. Misra. I. Conceptual and methodological issues: 2. The relevance of IEK (Indigenous Environmental Knowledge): yesterday, today and tomorrow/Roy Ellen. 3. Perspectives on indigenous knowledge systems: development, Oral Tradition and globalisation/Jan Brouwer. 4. Indigenous knowledge and the Hegemony of Western Technology/Subhadra Mitra Channa. 5. Measuring what people know about the environment: a review of quantitative studies/Victoria Reyes-Garcia, Vincent Vadez, Susan Tanner, Tomas Huanca, William R. Leonard and Thomas McDade. 6. Mythology of mapping memory of indigenous knowledge/C.R. Rajagopalan. 7. Computerization activities of traditional knowledge/G.N.R. Prasad and A. Vinay Babu. II. Indigenous environmental knowledge: case studies: 8. Traditional Wisdom of Apatani Community in the management and sharing of natural resources in North Eastern India/Nehal A. Farooquee, Mihin Dollo and C.P. Kala. 9. Forest space: perceptions of the Chenchu, the Konda Reddi and the Koya Dora of Andhra Pradesh/V. Gangadharam. 10. The knowledge that helps indigenous people: an anthropological exploration/Devesh Kumar Sahu and B.M. Mukherjee. 11. Local community, social capital and forest management/Aditya K. Mishra. 12. Toddy-Tapping Technology as a means of subsistence: a case study of Idiga Community of Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh/K. Viswanadha Reddy and J. Gangadhar. 13. Traditional knowledge and practices among the Snake Charmers Community of Orissa/Jyotsna Mohanty. 14. The Saperas (Snake Charmers) of Shankargarh: a study in continuity and change of traditional knowledge and wisdom/Neeraj Kumar Thakur. 15. Traditional Management System for conserving the endangered State Flower Saussurea Obvallata: a case study from Uttaranchal/Mitali Joshi. 16. Traditional Wisdom of Resource Management: a study of the Saura of Orissa/R. Siva Prasad and Niharranjan Mishra. III. Ethno-medical knowledge of Indian Tribes: 17. Folk Medicinal Plants of Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary, Orrisa, India/Chiranjibi Pattanaik, N.K. Dhal, N.C. Rout and Sudhakar Reddy. 18. An anthropological study of indigenous medicinal practices in a Village of Jashpur District, Chhattisgarh/Prashant Kumar Mishras and Neeli Rose Ekka. 19. Folk Herbal Therapeutics of Six Nilgiri Tribes: resource for scientific research and development/S. Rajan, M. Sethuraman, P.L. Arul Manikandan and M. Jayendran. 20. Ill health, disease and Indigenous Health Care System among the Munda--a primitive Tribe of Orissa/Sabita Acharya. IV. Loss of indigenous knowledge: 21. Endangered Traditional Knowledge: special reference to Eastern Tribal Region/Bratindi Jena. 22. Loss of Traditional Knowledge in the Nicobar Archipelago/Vijoy S. Sahay. V. Indigenous knowledge and development: 23. Traditional knowledge as a tool for development: the case of tribal crafts/P.N. Sankaran. 24. Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and social institutions in sustainable development: a changing scenario in Western Himalaya/Gopal S. Singh. 25. Indigenous environmental knowledge and food security: sample data from Orissa/S.N. Ratha. 26. Traditional ecological knowledge vis-a-vis sustainable development in theSunderbans/Priya Srivastava. Index.

"Indigenous knowledge, an accumulated knowledge of the poor and marginalized for generations, transmitted orally, and carefully preserved in the cultural practices of the people, is under severe threat today. Changing environment and deep penetration of the forces of globalization and technologization into the remote areas have many a times made this knowledge obsolete. There is a growing concern that IK ingrained in people\'s context-specific knowledge of ensuring food security, of human and animal health and resource management practices needs to be documented, both in Situ and ex Situ. This volume is a modest attempt in this direction. With 26 chapters divided into 5 sections and contributed by anthropologists, activists, botanists, computer scientists, pharmacologists, environmental scientists and sociologists, this volume is a rich compendium of indigenous knowledge research in India and abroad. The sections in the volume focus on theoretical and methodological issues pertaining to indigenous knowledge, case studies on the knowledge of different ethnic groups, tribal ethno-medical practices, loss of indigenous knowledge and the role of indigenous knowledge in social development. The volume is a source book for indigenous knowledge research and will be of immense interest to anthropologists, environmental scientists, ethno-botanists, ecologists, computer scientists, sociologists, NGOs and development administrators." (jacket)