The Idea of Indigenous Knowledge

The idea of ‘indigenous knowledge’ is a relatively recent phenomenon that, amongst other things, constitutes part of a challenge to ‘western’ thinking and conceptualization. Advocates of indigenous knowledge maintain that its study has profound educational and ethical relevance and also emphasise its significance in antiracist, antisexist and postcolonialist discourse, in general, and in terms of the ‘African Renaissance’, in particular. This paper argues the following: (1) ‘indigenous knowledge’ involves at best an incomplete, partial or, at worst, a questionable understanding or conception of knowledge; (2) as a tool in anti-discrimination and anti-repression discourse, ‘indigenous knowledge’ is largely inappropriate. I show, further, that in the development of ‘knowledge’, following some necessary conceptual readjustments in our understanding of this term, there is considerably greater common ground than admitted by theorists. It is this acknowledgement, not adherence to a popular concept of debatable plausibility that has profound educational, ethical and political consequences.     

震旦博物院与近代上海的科学知识传播

伴随西方殖民主义和帝国主义的"西学东渐"具有多样性和复杂性的特质。1930—1952年间震旦博物院在上海的科学知识传播工作即体现了西方科学在异质文化中柔性扩张的具体历史过程。震旦博物院通过科学出版活动,将其在中国完成的地域性标本收集成果纳入欧洲科学知识体系;通过科学教育工作,培养出一批在"文化相遇"氛围中成长起来的中国天主教精英;通过科学知识普及,繁荣上海城市文化,增进中国社会对西方文化和宗教的了解。怀有极度文化自信感和优越感的耶稣会士以震旦博物院为中心开展"文化移植"并试图改造中国,客观上也促进了上海科学文化的近代化进程。     

Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Movements in Latin America and the World

Marvin Harris. Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture. New York: Random House, 1974. 276 pp. References. $7.95 (cloth).     

20世纪30年代的文实之争

20世纪30年代,中国的教育正处于一场大变革时期,无论是政府中人还是一般教育者都试图对变革有所影响。文实之争正是在这一背景下发生的。论争首先发生于广州,1932年5月19日,邹鲁等政要提出在广州各大学“停办文法科或减少数量”,由此在广州《民国日报》现代青年栏引发了讨论。相差仅11天,陈果夫也向国民党中央提出了“十年之内停办文法科”的教育改革方案,此后围绕着是否应该“抑文重实”发生了全国性的讨论。这场貌似简单的关于一条具体教育改革措施的论争,实际上隐含着非常丰富的内容,诸如社会问题的解决、国难的因应、地方和中央之争、自由知识分子与国民党之争等无一不在其中。梳理纷纭,揭示细故,既可再现当时教育变革的场景,又可发现隐藏在教育中的历史。     

Shards of Meaning: Archaeology and the Melanesia-Polynesia Divide

Abstract

Among the many consequences of colonisation in the Pacific were the twin processes of conjunction and separation of indigenous societies following the establishment of colonial boundaries. In the Solomon Islands, both occurred. Particularly in the northwest, earlier connections were reduced (although not eliminated) following the establishment of the British‐German boundary between the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP) and German (later British) New Guinea. Other parts of the Solomons which had previously had less contact were conjoined into the BSIP, which later became the independent state of the Solomons Islands. I consider some of the outcomes of these processes for New Georgian (Western Solomons) notions of nationhood. I discuss the question of Western sentiments towards the Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville, but focus primarily on New Georgian ambivalence towards union with other parts of the Solomons, particularly Malaita Province.     

Combined Innovation Policy: Linking Scientific and Practical Knowledge in Innovation Systems

New research indicates that firms combining the science-based STI (Science, Technology, Innovation) and the experience-based DUI (Doing, Using, Interacting) modes of innovation are more efficient when it comes to improving innovation capacity and competitiveness. With regard to innovation policy, the STI mode calls for a supply-driven policy, typically aimed to commercialize research results. The DUI mode suggests a demand-driven policy approach, such as supporting the development of new products or services to specific markets. This article analyses how the two types of innovation policies and the two innovation modes can be combined in regional innovation systems (RISs). The analysis builds on studies of the food industry and related knowledge organizations in two counties, Rogaland County (Norway) and Skåne County (Sweden), and two policy initiatives (NCE Culinology and Skåne Food Innovation Network) aimed at strengthening the innovative capability of the RISs. The analysis indicates that policies aimed to link science- and user-driven innovation activity should focus on building absorptive capacity of DUI firms (e.g. through increased scientific competence) and implementation capacity of STI firms (e.g. through increased market and process competence).     

Indigenous agriculture in the Americas

Significant advances in our understanding of ancient agricultural practices in the Americas have been made in recent years. This review of the literature focuses on studies published between 1987 and early 1994. Issues pertaining to the transition from foraging to farming include the habitability of the American tropics prior to the development of agriculture, theories on plant domestication and the origins of agriculture, regional syntheses of agricultural development, and the origin, evolution, and dissemination of domesticates in the Americas. Other topics reviewed include new techniques that have recently been applied to the study of prehistoric agriculture in the Americas, various approaches to the study of agricultural change, and ways in which research on ancient agricultural practices is being applied in modern experimental agriculture and rural development projects.     

On Scientific Hypotheses and Authentic Knowledge in Modern Discoveries of General Regularities in Physical Geography

The methodological aspects of the relationship between scientific hypothesis and authentic theory are examined with particular reference to the discoveries of regularities in the field of physical geography. A hypothesis is defined as a proposition whose basic content may be refuted as a result of further research; the basic content of authentic theory is beyond dispute, but may be further altered and refined. Instead of a traditional opposition of hypothesis to theory, the author recommends a broader approach treating both the formulation of a scientific hypothesis and the creation of a theory as discoveries of a theoretical character. According to this view, discoveries may be in the realm of hypothetical knowledge or in the area of authentic knowledge, depending on the weight of evidence. The Wegener hypothesis of continental drift is viewed as an example of a discovery in the realm of hypothetical knowledge; global regularities of heat-moisture relationships deriving from solar radiation are regarded as falling in the area of authentic knowledge. In general, hypothetic knowledge tends to involve the earth's interior forces, which are still relatively unknown, and authentic knowledge the better-known forces stemming from the sun. Some discoveries, such as the problem of geographical zonality and the discovery of bipolarity in the morphometry of the earth's macrorelief, contain elements of both authentic and hypothetical knowledge.     

Teaching Across the Divide: Physical and Human Geographies of Hurricane Katrina

This article critically reflects on our effort to ‘teach across the divide’, by integrating physical and human geography in a new first-year course. We achieved this integration by structuring our course around a series of key events, in order to draw out the interaction of ‘natural’ and ‘social’ forces. After setting out the intellectual and institutional reasons for integration, we illustrate our approach with reference to one of the key events covered in our course: Hurricane Katrina. Finally, we draw on our own reflections and student evaluations to consider the positive outcomes of our approach, and the challenges it poses.     

Indigenous peoples' rights and the politics of the term 'indigenous'

This article forms part of an ongoing debate on rights and the use of the term 'indigenous', which has so far included exchanges in Current Anthropology , the New Humanist , and ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY , as indicated in the bibliography. The authors here respond specifically to an article by Adam Kuper, published in Current Anthropology and the New Humanist . Professor Kuper has been invited to respond and has indicated his intention to do so in the forthcoming issue of ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY . Readers are invited to contribute their own views to the debate. [Ed.]