Trevor Purcell and two co-editors (Univ. of South Florida, Anthropology) are
seeking a publisher for the anthology outlined below. Should you have any
suggestions, please contact Maggie at council@luna.cas.usf.edu, or USF
Department of Anthropology, SOC 107, 4202 Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620-
8100, phone (813) 974-2150.
We are also soliciting additional papers for the volume. If you think you
have a suitable work, send three copies immediately for consideration to the
above address. The paper should be 25-30 pages long, double-spaced, and
preferably written in accordance with the American Anthropological Association
style standard. We will review your article and inform you of the result
ASAP.
Anthology Prospectus
Title: THE INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVE: CONTRASTING KNOWLEDGE
SYSTEMS AND THE QUEST FOR SELF-DETERMINATION
The papers in this anthology, based largely on original field research,
address various aspects of the application of the indigenous perspective in a
manner that demonstrates the direct relevance comparative cultural knowledge
to achieving a more objective understanding - and solutions - of the conflicts
engendered by the globalization of capitalism and it particular view of the
world.
The papers are set in the historical context of five centuries of the
emergence and expansion of capitalism, a process which has been enduringly
unkind to those it defines as indigenous. In the past two decades, the world
has witnessed a dialectical twist of history which has brought indigenous
peoples to a position of re-invigorated cultural assertion vis-a-vis the
dominant "Western" knowledge. The goal is self-determination, and it is being
carved through a forest of international, intercultural, and even interclass
"development" problems: conflicting notions of property rights; contrasting
understandings of resource conservation; the confrontation of technology and
morality; and perhaps most pervasive, different understandings of the
relationship of "development" to sustainable social well-being. The tide of
self-determination is not, however, confined to indigenous peoples; the
indigenous model of action and critical discourse has been embraced by many
NGOs and post-colonial states seeking alternatives to historically imposed
life strategies. Thus, there has emerged what may be termed an indigenous
perspective, i.e., strategies based on local knowledge and local initiative,
the common thread that ties these papers in the volume together.
The topics in the anthology include: a) questions of what constitutes
indigenous knowledge; b) the application of such cognitive methodologies as
triadic sorting and multidimensional scaling; c) institutional economics, and
factors determining property rights such as history, culture, and gender; d)
indigenous perspectives in community planning, health and healing, sustainable
natural resource development, and the need for locally conceived ideological
discourse; e) the manipulation of symbolic capital in the relationship between
indigenous groups and the international environmental movement; f) and,
finally, the potential conflict between ethical relativism and principles of
universal human rights.
Structure of the Anthology
The volume consists of a Preface, an Introduction and sixteen articles
(so far). The Preface summarizes the advent of the papers. The Introduction
locates the volume within contemporary works on the research and application
of indigenous/local knowledge, as well as in the public discourse on the
globalization of industrial capitalism and its implications for the future.
The volume is divided into five topical sections: 1) Methodological and
Conceptual Issues; 2) Property Rights and Resource Management; 3) Sustainable
Development and Resource Utilization; 4) Indigenous Knowledge in Health and
5) Local Knowledge and the New Information Technology.