Abstract
Indigenous agricultural knowledge (IAK) can be analyzed for its technical role in food production strategies, and for its role as cultural knowledge producing and reproducing mutual understanding and identity among the members of a farming group. IAK can also be approached from the perspective of critical theory, analyzing the relationship between knowledge and relations of power, with the goal of liberating indigenous farmers from forms of domination. The paper considers relationships between the different aspects of IAK, using examples of the influence of non-local technologies and ideas on indigenous agricultural practices in the Ecuadorian Andes. The examples elucidate how technical change is a signifier of the changing relationship between indigenous farmers and wider society. The political implications of these changes are ambiguous, however, because the change is not necessarily one of social and cultural assimilation. As indigenous peasant organizations in Ecuador now reflect on these changes, they are connecting the questions of IAK, indigenous cultural identity and political strategy. Some organizations speak of recovering and revalorizing indigenous technologies as a tool for, and symbol of, resistance to domination by wider society. Others see selective modernization of indigenous agriculture as a necessary strategy to sustain the social and cultural cohesion of the group, even if this implies social changes. The different perspectives reflect both different conditions facing the organizations, and their varying approaches. That peasant organizations have these discussions suggests that they should constitute an important meeting point for farmers and crop researchers to discuss technology development strategies as equal partners. The organizations can provide an institutional forum in which participants reflect critically on the agrarian knowledge that they have, why they have it, and what it can contribute to future strategies of agrarian and social change.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agriculture and Human Values, 1989. Special Issue on Indigenous Knowledge, Summer 1989.Agriculture and Human Values. 4(3).
Altieri, M.A. 1987.Agroecology. The Scientific Basis of Alternative Agriculture. Boulder. Westview.
Altieri, M.A. and Merrick, L. 1987. “In Situ Maintenance of Crop Genetic Resources through Maintenance of Traditional Farming Systems.”Economic Botany, 41(1): 86–96.
Altieri, M.A. and Yurjevic, A. 1990.Towards an Agroecological Strategy for Sustainable Rural Development in Latin America. Latin American Consortium on Agroecology and Development. Santiago, Chile.
Bebbington, A.J. 1990.Indigenous Agriculture in the Central Ecuadorian Andes. The Cultural Ecology and Institutional Conditions of its Construction and its Change. Ph.D. dissertation. Graduate School of Geography, Clark University.
Bebbington, A.J. 1989.Institutional Options and Multiple Sources of Innovation. A Case Study from Ecuador. Overseas Development Institute Network Paper 11. London. Overseas Development Institute.
Bernstein, R. 1983.Beyond Objectivism and Relativism. Oxford. Basil Blackwell.
Biggs, S.D. & Clay, E. 1981. “Sources of Innovation in Agricultural Technology.”World Development, 9(4):321–336
Bourdieu, P., 1977.Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Brokensha, D. Warren, D. & Werner, O. (eds) 1980.Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Development. Lanham. University Press of America.
Busch, L. 1978. “On Understanding Understanding: Two Views of Communication.”Rural Sociology, 43(3):450–473.
Chambers, R., Pacey, A. and Thrupp, L.A. (eds) 1989.Farmer First. Farmer Innovation and Agricultural Research. London. Intermediate Technology Publications.
Chiriboga, M. 1987. “Movimiento Campesino e Indigena y Participacion Politica en Ecuador. La Construccion de Identidades en una Sociedad Heterogenea.”Ecuador Debate, 13:87–122.
CONAIE 1989.Nuestro Proceso Organizativo. Quito. Confederacion de Nacionalidades Indigenas del Ecuador.
Eisemon, T.O. 1989. “Becoming a Modern Farmer: The Impact of Primary Schooling on Agricultural Thinking and Practices in Kenya and Burundi.” pp. 41–67 in D. Michael Warren, L. Jan Slikkerveer and S. Oguntunji Titilola (eds),Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Implications for Agriculture and International Development. Studies in Technology and Social Change No.11. Ames. Iowa State University Press
FENOC 1988.Programa Agrario Campesino Indigena. Quito. Federacion Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas.
Franquemont, C. 1987.Potato Breeding in High Altitude Environments in the Andes. Paper presented at the 10th Annual Conference of the Society for Ethnobiology, Gainesville, March 6th, 1987.
Giddens, A. 1982.Profiles and Critiques in Social Theory. London. MacMillan.
Gliessman, S. 1981. “The Ecological Basis for the Application of Traditional Technology in the Management of Tropical Agroecosystems.”Agro-ecosystems, 7: 173–185.
Gregory, D.J. 1978.Ideology, Science and Human Geography. London. Hutchinson.
Habermas, J. 1987.The Theory of Communicative Action. Volume 2. London. Heinemann.
Habermas, J. 1984.The Theory of Communicative Action. Volume 1. Cambridge. Polity.
Habermas, J. 1971.Knowledge and Human Interests. Boston. Beacon Press.
Harris, O. 1985. “Ecological Duality and the Role of the Center: Northern Potosi.” pp. 311–335 in Masuda, S.et al., (eds).
Keat, R. and Urry, J. 1982.Social Theory as Science. Second Edition. London. Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Lehmann, A.D. 1990.Democracy and Development in Latin America. Economics, Politics and Religion in the Postwar Period. Cambridge. Polity Press.
Masuda, S., Shimada, I. & Morris C. (eds) 1985.Andean Ecology and Civilization. An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Andean Ecological Complementarity. Tokyo. University of Tokyo Press.
McCarthey, T. 1982. “Rationality and Relativism: Habermas' ‘Overcoming’ of Hermeneutics.” InHabermas: Critical Debates. Thompson, J. & Held, D. (eds). Cambridge. M.I.T. Press.
Ramon, V., G. 1988.Indios, Crisis y Proyecto Alternativo. Quito. Centro Andino de Accion Popular.
Reed, C. 1977.Origins of Agriculture. Mouton Publishers. The Hague.
Rhoades, R.E. 1989. “The Role of Farmers in the Creation of Agricultural Technology.” pp. 3–9 inFarmer First. Farmer Innovation and Agricultural Research. Chambers, R., Pacey, A. and Thrupp, L.A. (eds). London. Intermediate Technology Publications.
Rhoades, R.E. 1987.Farmers and Experimentation. Agricultural Administration (Research and Extension) Discussion Paper No. 21. London. Overseas Development Institute
Rhoades, R.E. 1984. Breaking New Ground. Agricultural Anthropology. Lima. Centro Internacional de la Papa.
Rhoades, R.E. & Bebbington, A. 1991. “Farmers who Experiment. Un Untapped Resource for Agricultural Research and Development.” In Indigenous Knowledge Systems: The Cultural Dimension of Development. D.M.Warren, D.Brokensha and L.JanSlikkerveer (eds). London. Kegan Paul International.
Rhoades, R. & Booth, R. 1982. “Farmer-back-to-Farmer. A Model for Generating Acceptable Agricultural Technology.”Agricultural Administration, 11:127–137.
Richards, P. 1987.Experimenting Farmers and Agricultural Research. Manuscript.
Richards, P. 1985.Indigenous Agricultural Revolution. Ecology and Food Production in West Africa. London. Hutchinson.
Sanchez-Parga, J. 1989. Faccionalismo, Organizacion y Proyecto Etnico en los Andes. Quito. Centro Andino de Accion Popular.
Sanchez-Parga, J. 1984. “Comportamientos Tecnologicos y Apropriaciones Simbolicas en el Campesinado Indigena de Cotocahi.” In Debate #6: Campesinado y Tecnologia, pp. 116–133. Quito. Centro Andino de Accion Popular.
Santana, R. 1986. “La Cuestion Etnica y la Democracia en el Ecuador.”Ecuador Debate 12:101–124.
Sayer, A. 1984.Method in Social Science. London. Hutchinson.
Scott, J.C. 1985.Weapons of the Weak. Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. London. Yale University Press.
Stern, S.J. 1987a. “New Approaches to the Study of Peasant Rebellion and Consciousness: Implications of the Andean Experience.” pp. 3–25 in Stern 1987b.
Stern, S.J. 1987b. Resistance, Rebellion and Consciousness in the Andean Peasant World, 18th to 20th Centuries. Madison. The University of Wisconsin Press.
Thrupp, L.A. 1989. “Legitimizing Local Knowledge: ‘Scientized Packages’ or Empowerment for Third World People.” pp. 138–153 in D. Michael Warren, L. Jan Slikkerveer and S. Oguntunji Titilola (eds),Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Implications for Agriculture and International Development. Studies in Technology and Social Change No. 11. Ames. Iowa State University.
Turner, B.L. & Brush, S. 1987.Comparative Farming Systems. New York. Guilford Press.
Trujillo, J. 1987. “Comentarios a la Ponencia: Movimiento Campesino e Indigena y Participacion Politica.”Ecuador Debate 13:123–128.
UCASAJ, 1989.Pueblo Indio. San Juan, Chimborazo. Union of Cabildos of San Juan.
Warren, D.M., Brokensha, D. and Slikkerveer L. Jan (eds) 1991.Indigenous Knowledge Systems: The Cultural Dimension of Development. London. Kegan Paul International.
Weismantel, M.J. 1988.Food, Gender and Poverty in the Ecuadorian Andes. Philadelphia. University of Pennsylvania Press.
White, S.K. 1989. The Recent Work of Jurgen Habermas. Reason, Justice and Modernity. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Zuquilanda, M. 1988.Tradicion y Actualidad en el Agro Serrano. Quito. CEDIME.
Additional information
Anthony Bebbington is a British geographer, teaching and working as a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Centre of Latin American Studies at Cambridge University, England. He has conducted research in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. His Ph.D. (Clark University, USA -1990) analyzed the relationships between resource poor farmers and institutions during the process of agrarian change in highland Ecuador. He is currently involved in a collaborative study of NGO-state relationships in agricultural research and extension in Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bebbington, A. Indigenous agricultural knowledge systems, human interests, and critical analysis: Reflections on farmer organization in Ecuador. Agric Hum Values 8, 14–24 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01579652
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01579652