Biocoloniality in exchanges between researchers of biodiversity and communities in Colombia

https://doi.org/10.25058/20112742.64

Yilson Javier Beltrán Barrera
ORCID ID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6271-4445
yjbeltranb@unal.edu.co
Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Abstract:

Throughout history, communities in Colombia have undergone a relationship of both epistemic and political dominance from biodiversity researchers, who are provided with knowledge by those communities. Initially, that historical process is briefly accounted for in order to show that even today that domination relationship is in place, as a result of a prevailing rationale, as evidenced in the application of Cartesian method upon scientific research. Thus, current relationships between researchers and communities are found to remain to be inserted itself in that dominance rationale, which is exerted by Northern countries as a political strategy aiming to control biodiversity (biocoloniality), and therefore is deployed on megadiverse countries, such as Colombia. Next, the political posture by a Colombian scientist when it came to Colombian basic science teachers applying Participatory Action-research upon work with a Ticuna community in Colombian Amazonas. The author concludes that by applying those principles, a necessary political and ethical commitment is brought about, aiming to put in place a new agreement between biodiversity researchers and communities.

Keywords: biocoloniality, biodiversity, traditional knowledge, scientific knowledge, PAR.