While there is talk of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, old and new challenges bedevil the world – climate change, nutrition, and health poverty being at the top of the list. In seeking solutions to these and other problems which afflict the modern era, it is worthwhile to look into our collective past, to the traditions and knowledges of our ancestors. Such knowledge continues to exist in many parts of the world, though now marginalized by homogenous, Eurocentric ontolology and epistemology. This book presents a compilation of reviews, case studies, and primary research attempting to locate the utility of traditional and Indigenous Knowledges in an increasingly complex world. It assembles chapter authors from across the world to tackle topics ranging from traditional knowledge-based innovations and commercialization, traditional medicine systems as practiced around the world, ethnoveterinary practices, and food innovation to traditional governance and leadership systems, among others. This book is an important resource for policymakers; scholars and researchers of cultural studies, leadership, governance, ethnobotany, anthropology, plant genetic resources and technology innovation; and readers interested in the history of knowledge and culture, as well as cultural activists and political scientists. Features: Unique combination of social science and anthropological aspects with natural science perspectives Includes summaries aimed at policymakers to immediately see what would be relevant to their work Combines case studies illuminating important lessons learned with reviews and primary data Multidisciplinary in the scope of the topics tackled and assemblage of contributors Global footprint with contributions from Africa, Europe, North America, Asia, and the West Indies David R. Katerere, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa Wendy Applequist, William L. Brown Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, Missouri Oluwaseyi M. Aboyade, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa and Nutritica SA, The Innovation Hub, Pretoria, South Africa Chamunorwa Togo, The Innovation Hub, Pretoria, South Africa

This book concerns the often fractious interface between drug discovery and commercialisation, environmental degradation, the biodiversity crisis, the exploitation of indigenous peoples and the destruction of their culture, the right to health, inequalities of power, and the ability of the law to protect knowledge. For millennia, medicinal plants have provided a trove of treatments for human ailments, and the key to that treasure has been the traditional knowledge of the indigenous peoples who have lived alongside these plants. More recently that knowledge has been taken, often without consent or recompense, by Western science as a springboard for the development of pharmaceutical agents. As a response to threats to biodiversity and indigenous culture, international mechanisms have created, or are creating, enforceable rights for indigenous peoples to control such knowledge. With a background in pharmacology and molecular biology and significant experience as a lawyer in pharmaceutical and biotech patent litigation, the author brings a fresh perspective to understanding the difficulties of enforcing such rights and, in particular, examines whether there is a philosophically justifiable limit to the downstream scope of such rights. This book is aimed at all those with an interest in the control of indigenous genetic knowledge and the protection of indigenous culture, whether academics, anthropologists or pharmaceutical researchers, and those seeking to make indigenous rights work, as activists, legislators or practising lawyers.

Knowledge systems are an essential aspect to the preservation of a community’s culture. In developing countries, this community-based knowledge has significant influence on such things as decision making and problem solving. The Handbook of Research on Social, Cultural, and Educational Considerations of Indigenous Knowledge in Developing Countries is an authoritative reference source for the latest scholarly research on the importance of knowledge and value systems at the community level and ways indigenous people utilize this information. Highlighting impacts on culture and education in developing nations, this book is ideally designed for researchers, academicians, policy makers, students, and professionals interested in contemporary debates on indigenous knowledge systems.

Debating Contemporary Approaches to the History of Science explores the main themes, problems and challenges currently at the top of the discipline's methodological agenda. In its chapters, established and emerging scholars introduce and discuss new approaches to the history of science and revisit older perspectives which remain crucial. Each chapter is followed by a critical commentary from another scholar in the field and the author's response. The volume looks at such topics as the importance of the 'global', 'digital', 'environmental', and 'posthumanist' turns for the history of science, and the possibilities for the field of moving beyond a focus on ideas and texts towards active engagement with materials and practices. It also addresses important issues about the relationship between history of science, on the one hand, and philosophy of science, history of knowledge and ignorance studies, on the other. With its innovative format, this volume provides an up-to-date, authoritative overview of the field, and also explores how and why the history of science is practiced. It is essential reading for students and scholars eager to keep a finger on the pulse of what is happening in the history of science today, and to contribute to where it might go next.

This collection of 17 original essays, provides insights into the many ways in which the interrelated issues of culture, identity and `Indianness' are expressed in contemporary times. The contributors map and evaluate the developments in their respective fields over the past 50 years and cover the topics of art, music, theatre, literature, philosophy, science, history and feminism.

Though not as well known as the U.S. military campaigns against the Apache, the ethnic warfare conducted against indigenous people of the Colorado River basin was equally devastating. In less than twenty-five years after first encountering Anglos, the Hualapais had lost more than half their population and nearly all their land and found themselves consigned to a reservation. This book focuses on the historical construction of the Hualapai Nation in the face of modern American colonialism. Drawing on archival research, interviews, and participant observation, Jeffrey Shepherd describes how thirteen bands of extended families known as The Pai confronted American colonialism and in the process recast themselves as a modern Indigenous nation. Shepherd shows that Hualapai nation-building was a complex process shaped by band identities, competing visions of the past, creative reactions to modernity, and resistance to state power. He analyzes how the Hualapais transformed an externally imposed tribal identity through nationalist discourses of protecting aboriginal territory; and he examines how that discourse strengthened the HualapaisÕ claim to land and water while simultaneously reifying a politicized version of their own history. Along the way, he sheds new light on familiar topicsÑIndianÐwhite conflict, the creation of tribal government, wage labor, federal policy, and Native activismÑby applying theories of race, space, historical memory, and decolonization. Drawing on recent work in American Indian history and Native American studies, Shepherd shows how the Hualapai have strived to reclaim a distinct identity and culture in the face of ongoing colonialism. We Are an Indian Nation is grounded in Hualapai voices and agendas while simultaneously situating their history in the larger tapestry of Native peoplesÕ confrontations with colonialism and modernity.

1650-1850 combines fresh considerations of prominent authors and artists with searches for overlooked or offbeat elements of the Enlightenment legacy. Volume 27 expands around a landmark special feature on worlds and worldmaking--on the imagining of new, exotic, unexplored, ideal, and utopian worlds ranging from south sea islands to polar utopias to zones of intercultural encounter to the conjectural territories of interpretive cartography. Enlivening the volume is a cavalcade of full-length book reviews.

A two-volume set which traces the history of food and nutrition from the beginning of human life on earth through the present.

Ace your environmental science class and get smart about the environment Environmental Science For Dummies is a straightforward guide to the interrelationships of the natural world and the role that humans play in the environment. This book tracks to a typical introductory environmental science curriculum at the college level—and is great as a supplement or study guide for AP Environmental Science, too. Uncover fascinating facts about the earth’s natural resources and the problems that arise when resources like air, water, and soil are contaminated by pollutants. If you’re in need of extra help for a class, considering a career in environmental science, or simply care about our planet and want to learn more about helping the environment, this friendly Dummies resource is a great place to start. The key concepts of environmental science, clearly explained All about the changing climate, including new understanding of methane release in the arctic Earth’s natural resources and the importance of protecting them A new chapter on environmental justice, where issues of poverty and sustainability intersect A solid foundation in environmental science is essential for anyone looking for a career in the field—and is important knowledge for all of us as we work together to build a sustainable future.

This book is an outcome of the third conference in the successful 'Scramble for Africa' International Conference series, now renamed the 'African Unity for Renaissance' International Conference. The book provides an overview and contains profound analyses of the important issues pertaining to African Unity and African Renaissance. The book is accessible to a wide variety of readers, ranging from policy makers to researchers, from teachers to students, and for anyone concerned with the further development of the African continent and Africa's renewal. The book outlines the various issues that animate Africa's stand in the global political, socio-economic, cultural and technological arenas. The chapters gathered in the book critically examine and evaluate the burning questions and challenges with which Africa is grappling. This book is one of the vital texts for understanding how Africa will manage to navigate the tumultuous waters of globalisation as Africa has just recently emerged out of the horrors of slavery, colonialism, apartheid, neo-colonialism and genocide, and is still wrestling with unceasing conflicts, popular unrest, neo-imperialism, coloniality and mushrooming insurgency. The chapters provide a much-needed insight into the issue of whether Africa has achieved genuine and meaningful independence after 50 years of the founding of the OAU and whether the baby-steps Africa has taken towards unity are worth celebrating. The contributors highlight these and allied issues with a view to capture more public attention in order to stimulate debate and usher in a new phase in the quest for African Unity and Renaissance. The contributors are distinguished authors and established and emerging scholars in their own domains. While a majority of the contributors are from the continent, distinguished scholars from around the globe have joined their African fellows in dealing with the relevant issues regarding Africa's place in an ever changing world.