dennis n. ocholla.marginalized knowledge

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Introduction

Present-day literature proffers several definitionsof indigenous knowledge (IK). The broadest ofthese (see, for example, NRF, 2003), which weintend to use, defines IK as:

... a complex set of knowledge and technologiesexisting and developed around specific conditionsof populations and communities indigenous to aparticular geographic area, [with an emphasis onhow] these forms of knowledge have hitherto beensuppressed [] therefore, IKS should be broughtinto the mainstream of knowledge in order toestablish its place within the larger body ofknowledge.

Essentially, indigenous knowledge (i.e. local/traditional/folk knowledge/ethnoscience) is a

dynamic archive of the sum total of knowledge,skills and attitudes belonging to, and practisedby, a community over generations, and is ex-pressed in the form of action, objects and signlanguage for sharing. Numerous examples (e.g.Kaniki & Mphahlele, 2002:46) exist as to how IKthrives in the following areas (World Bank, n.d.):

Beliefs Medicine (traditional medicine using herbs) Community development (e.g. communality

or the ubuntu support system) Art and craft (e.g. pottery) Sealing Energy production (through charcoal burning) Education (knowledge transfer over genera-

tions)

Communication and entertainment (festivals,drama, songs, dances, storytelling what wetoday could call reading clubs)

Farming practices (soil conservation, inter-cropping, farm rotation)

Food technology (fermentation, preservation) Arts and crafts (e.g. painting, carving, decor-

ation, weaving,)

These skills, knowledge and attitudes, whenshared, adapted and refined, sustain commu-nities and bring development in areas such as:

Healing (e.g. alternative/traditional/herbalmedicine; physical and mental fitness; theMaasais treatment of foot-and-mouth disease;the Fulanis treatment of cattle ticks withEuphorbia plants)

Nutrition (e.g. vegetarian cuisine; the Hoodiastem/cactus used by San people to stave offhunger and control thirst on hunting trips)

Wealth, income and business (e.g. intellectualproperty, tourism, the informal sector or small,medium and micro-enterprises)

Education (e.g. customs, traditions, culture,language)

Entertainment (e.g. traditional music anddance)

Politics (conflict resolution through an indaba,baraza, imbizo, kgotla, etc.)

Architecture and design (some wonderfulAfrican architecture exists in Egypt and SouthAfrica; clothes/attire), and countless more.

One of the focus areas in knowledge manage-ment (KM) is the conversion of intangible knowl-edge (i.e. indigenous knowledge) into tangibleknowledge. Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995:62) defineintangible knowledge as personal knowledge

that is created through individual experiences. Itis largely embedded within the culture andtraditions of individuals or communities. Tan-gible knowledge, on the other hand, is recorded,documented or codified knowledge, widelyconveyed through formal language textual,electronic or digital. The manner in which thiskind of knowledge is presented has made itsstorage, conveyance and sharing extremely easyand its popularisation overwhelming.

However, Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995:8) cautionthat tangible knowledge and intangible knowl-

edge are not two entirely separate entities theysupplement each other. This is an area in whichthe integration of IK into mainstream knowledgeand, more particularly, into knowledge manage-ment, is inadequate. Knowledge, according tothese authors, is created and extended throughthe social interaction between tangible and in-tangible knowledge, and may follow four basicpatterns:

Intangible to intangible (socialisation), whereindividuals share intangible knowledgethrough personal contact

Intangible to tangible (externalisation), wherethe knowledge base is extended by the codi-fication of experience, insight and judgment sothat it may be utilised by others

Tangible to tangible (combination), whereindividuals combine the tangible knowledgeof others to create a new whole

Tangible to intangible (internalisation), whereindividuals use others codified knowledge tobroaden their own intangible knowledge


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MARGINALISED KNOWLEDGE: AN AGENDA FOR INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION

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This chapter re-examines IK in order to suggestan agenda for its development and its integrationwith other forms of knowledge.

What does marginalisation of IK mean?

Marginalisation refers to exclusion a state ofbeing left out or insufficient attention being givento something, for example IK. Although IK(which is still largely tacit or intangible) isinseparable from any realistic knowledge andKM or classification paradigm, marginalisation ofIK has occurred over the years and has retardedits development and integration. While IK hasexisted within our communities since timeimmemorial indeed, there is no community thatdoes not have elements of IK the degree of suchpossession varies, and seemingly the more a

community possesses or practises it, the more theindividual or community is marginalised orstigmatised.

There are many speculative causes or reasons asto why this occurs. Of these, some stem from thecharacteristics of IK, namely:

Tacit knowledge is not codified or syste-matically recorded, and is therefore difficult totransfer or share.

It lives solely in the memory of the beholderand is mostly oral, meaning that unless trans-

ferred, it dies with the beholder. It is embedded in the culture/traditions/ideo-

logy/language and religion of a particularcommunity and is therefore not universal anddifficult to globalise.

It is mostly rural, commonly practised amongpoor communities, and is therefore not suit-able in multicultural, urban and economicallyprovided communities.

The marginalisation of IK can also be seen in thelight of how some global organisations, such asthe World Bank and the Netherlands Organi-

sation for International Cooperation in HigherEducation (NUFFIC), associate IK with the poor.For example, World Bank Group (n.d.) states:

Indigenous knowledge is also the social capital ofthe poor, their main asset to invest in the strugglefor survival, to produce food, to provide for shelteror to achieve control of their own lives.

Marginalisation has also occurred because fam-ilies and communities are becoming increasingly

disintegrated and globalised, a trend that mayhave stemmed from the push and pull oftechnologies and the overextensive supply ofmass products, services, mass media gadgets andcontent to private spaces where IK once thrived.

During periods of domination, which have beenvaryingly described with terms such as forcedoccupation, invasion, colonialism, servi-tude, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and im-perialism, IK was subject to yet another level ofmarginalisation. It was often referred to in anegative or derisive manner, with phrases suchas primitive, backward, archaic, out-dated, pagan and barbaric. This demeaningreference did not create space for IKs integrationwith other forms of knowledge, commonlyreferred to as scientific, Western or modernknowledge (largely products of explicit knowl-

edge). Thus, if a community or a person recog-nised and utilised IK more, then that communityor person was supposedly inferior to those thatdid not. Put simply, a person or communitypractising or using IK was stigmatised.

Therefore, in order for an individual or com-munity to be admitted into a civilised ormodern society, that individual or communityhad to abandon practising and using IK. IK wasvindicated, illegitimated, illegalised, suppressedand abandoned by some communities, and thecountries and peoples practising it were asso-ciated with outdatedness, a characteristic mostpeople find demeaning. This form of margin-alisation produced a generation which, for themost part, does not understand, recognise, ap-preciate, value or use IK. Arguably, this situationhas produced an intellectually colonised mind-set. These are communities that the celebratedworld novelist, Ngugi wa Thiongo, in his essayDecolonizing the mind: The politics of languagein African literature, considers intellectuallycolonised. The question is how much they havegained through losing. Or, put another way, how

much have they lost through gaining?

Marginalisation has also been fuelled by stereo-types. There has been a tendency to associate IKwith traditional communities. Studies on IK tendto focus on the poor, the developing countries,the Aborigines of Australia, the Maoris of NewZealand, the Saskatchewan of Canada, the Ame-rican Indians of the US, the Maasai of Kenya, andso on. The nature of these studies raises problem-atic questions, such as:


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Are the studies done to improve the welfare ofthe communities, or are they done to demeansuch communities?

Would such studies be done in order to gainand share knowledge on how well the com-munities can solve their problems by using IK

systems and methods? Are studies done to unravel or demystify the

stereotype paradigm? Alternatively, are suchstudies merely adventurous outlets justifyingwhere research money has been spent?

Would it not perhaps also be interesting tostudy the IK of Western or industrialisedcommunities? Whereas much can be gainedfrom IK studies conducted on any communityin the world (since each community containselements of IK), the demeaning tendency tofocus IK studies on traditional and poor

communities has been an added cause ofmarginalisation.

Ultimately, has marginalisation occurred inthe way we define IK in relation to broaderknowledge or in the context of KM?

A definition of knowledge worth challenging inthis context is that of Bell (1973:176):

Knowledge is that which is objectively known, anintellectual property, attached to a name or a groupof names and certified by copyright or some otherform of social recognition (e.g. publication).

Bells definition of knowledge is a good exampleof modern or Eurocentric definitions of knowl-edge that can easily be used to marginalise orexclude IK, particularly if knowledge must beattached to a name or a group of names andcertified by copyright or some form of socialrecognition. This could be a biased approach thatfavours modern knowledge, recognises explicitknowledge at the expense of tacit knowledge,and emphasises codification and the ownershipof knowledge that IK does not necessarilycomply with.

Challenges of integrating IK with other

forms of knowledge

Fundamentally, integrating IK with other formsof knowledge first begins with knowledgecreation and development processes that can beviewed in six steps, all of which are recognisedby the World Bank (1998):

The first step or process includes recognition

and identification, in that IK has to berecognised, identified and selected from amultitude of other knowledges.

The second step involves IKs validation oraffirmation by identifying its significance,relevance, reliability, functionality, effective-

ness and transferability. This signifies anability to support problem solving. For ex-ample, the HIV/AIDS scourge, particularly inAfrica, has invited a number of IK experi-mentations, most of which have not beenvalidated (i.e. tested over time and used forproblem solving), culminating in disaster inmany cases. There are also interesting IKdevelopments and practical achievements thatare worth considering (World Bank, n.d.).

The third step involves codification, recordingor documentation. Explicit knowledge thrives

because of its tangibility, shareability, trans-ferability and storability, etc., all of whichoriginate from knowledge recording systems.Although there are some contestations to therecording of IK the argument being that IKowners easily lose moral and material owner-ship of their intellectual property or capital,which is relegated to third parties explicitknowledge thrives because of its visibility,access and use.

The fourth step consists of the storage of IK forretrieval. This requires the creation and

development of IK repositories requiring taxo-nomies, databases, recording, indexing andpreservation for easy access and use. The IKdatabase developed by the World Bank (n.d.)and those listed by Le Roux (2003) are essen-tial examples. However, although IK data-bases are a brilliant idea, reliable content in thedatabases would be of greater value. (Anexample of a World Bank database for Kenyais given in Table 1.)

Evidently, creating meta-data capturing capa-bilities and multiple-storage approaches isbecoming increasingly essential. The fifth step

borders on IK transfer. Such transfers gobeyond focusing on human recipients.

Following this, the sixth step would be thedissemination and use of IK. The knowledge isput to the test for acceptance and furthervalidation with a view to development. There-fore, in essence, the six steps or processes areessential if the gap between IK and otherforms of knowledge is to be closed.

The second consideration for integration borders


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No. Country Domain Technology Title

10 Kenya Agriculture Agriculture Botanical knowledge of the Maasai

41 KenyaHealth, nutrition

and population

Traditional

medicine

Medicinal use of plants to alleviate health problems of

both humans and livestock

42 Kenya EnvironmentBiodiversity,

conservation Taboos restricting felling of trees in the Maasai steppe

43 KenyaAgriculture,

environment

Agricultural

meteorology

Weather forecasting on the basis of astronomy and

ecology

44 KenyaAgriculture,

environment

Biodiversity,

taxonomyUse of plants and animals determines their taxonomy

46 Kenya Agriculture Taxonomy

Classification of livestock disease names assists the

Maasai in sharing knowledge, diagnosing diseases and

preventing their impact


and population

Knowledge

managementSharing of medicinal knowledge among the Maasai

51EasternAfrica region,

Kenya

Agriculture,health, nutrition

and population

BiodiversityTraditional societies in East Africa use wild plants for

different purposes and means to survive

58

Eastern

Africa region,

Kenya,

Tanzania

EducationInformal

education

Storytelling is the traditional means to bridge past and

present and to transfer ethical values through the

generations


and population

Traditional

medicineUse of plants for their antibiotic effects

Table 1: Indigenous knowledge records search results in the World Bank database on Kenya

on pragmatism; thus, what can we reap from IK.Other forms of knowledge have thrived becauseof their functions, importance or benefits. Therecognition and development of IK are pickingup momentum, largely due to the benefits beingderived from it. For example, as mentioned, IK isincreasingly being used for health services andagriculture, among other things. IK activities andpractices are reported by the World Bank (n.d.) inits IK Notes on Indigenous Knowledge and Practices,which covers 93 documents from 1998 andlargely focuses on Africa and Eastern and South-

ern Asia (e.g. India and Sri Lanka). These notesshow ongoing activities and practices of tre-mendous achievement in the field of traditionalmedicine and health, agriculture, biodiversity,education, natural resource management, conflictmanagement, energy generation, preservation,etc. that are of great benefit to those commu-nities.

Additionally, business and trade throughtourism have created significant interest in

indigenous food, arts and craft (weaving, paint-ing, sculpture, pottery, etc.). Significant growthhas also been driven by pharmaceuticals. Un-fortunately, most IK practices are currently beingheld in the informal sector or unregulatedeconomy, and are therefore subject to abuse. It isacknowledged that IK provides skills, ex-periences and insights into individuals and com-munities which may, in turn, be used to improvethe livelihoods of those mostly situated in theinformal sector of the economy (World Bank,n.d.). Furthermore:

IK provides local communities, especially thepoor, with problem-solving strategies.

IK is an important contribution to globaldevelopment knowledge.

IK systems risk extinction. IK is relevant for the development process. IK is an underutilised resource in the develop-

ment process.

Thus, learning from IK by investigating firstwhat local communities know and have, can


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assist with understanding local conditions andprovide a productive context for activities de-signed to help communities (World Bank, n.d.).

However, the said document strongly views IKto be a survivalist instrument of development,

meaning that its use is likely to occur less in areaswhere the lives of communities are better, orbeyond the norm of survival. Will this be the casewith pharmaceuticals, IK practitioners or even IKusers, some of whom are not poor, and do notbelong to the rural community? Put another way,how many people are employed in the IKindustry who are not poor or do not come frompoor communities? Despite the rather sad deni-gration of IK, the World Bank recognises that IKcould be relevant in at least three levels ofdevelopment, the first being its importance to thelocal community in which the IK knowledge

owners live and practise.

Secondly, development agents such as non-governmental organisations, civil society andgovernments need to recognise, value and appre-ciate IK while integrating with local commu-nities. Essentially, before incorporating IK intotheir approaches, they need to understand andcritically validate it against the usefulness of theirintended objectives. There are unique examples,such as South Africas recent policy document,Indigenous knowledge systems, produced bythe Department of Science and Technology(South Africa, n.d.), where the government hasintegrated IK health workers, such as traditionalhealers, into mainstream national healthcareservices through traditional health practitionerslegislation. This mandates the establishment of aTraditional Health Practitioners Council topreside over the activities of approximately200 000 South African traditional healers.According to the said policy document (SouthAfrica, n.d.):

The Traditional Medicine Strategy of World Health

has noted that the use of traditional medicine iswidely growing within Africa alone, as up to 80%of its population uses traditional medicine for theirhealth needs, largely due to accessibility andaffordability.

Thirdly, IK forms part of the global knowledgesystem. In this context, it has a value andrelevance in and of itself. Thus, IK can bepreserved, transferred, or adopted and adaptedanywhere in the world. Of great significance are

some of the World Banks achievements as at2005, in areas such as integrating IK in Bankprojects (18 cases), mainstreaming IK in develop-ment (14 cases), building capacity to facilitate IKexchanges (22 cases), collecting and dissemi-nating IK (12 cases) and building partnerships (10

cases) (World Bank, n.d.). The third considerationis epistemological. The nature, origin, found-ation, limitations and validity of IK requirefurther exploration and interrogation. For ex-ample, Agrawal (2004), among others, identifiesthe key issues in a manner that poses thefollowing questions:

How does IK differ from scientific, modern orWestern knowledge?

How do the two differ in dealing with imme-diate or concrete necessities as opposed to dis-tant and abstract issues?

What are the methodological and episte-mological differences?

What are the contextual differences?It is therefore necessary to provide more epis-temological content, concept and context to IK inorder to broaden its understanding and ap-plication to research and education in Africa andwherever else there is such a need.

Agenda for IK development

The following issues apply: Mapping and auditing IK capacity in Africa (e.g.

health, agriculture and food, trade and tourism).This may involve creating an awareness of IKpolicies, legislations and strategies; manage-ment structures, programmes and activities;research output and recordable activities;centres and systems; support and funding; andknowledge holders and practitioners. Thisagenda appears to have been echoed also byKaniki & Mphahlele (2002:14), as well as beinggiven attention by the South African

Department of Science and Technology (SouthAfrica, n.d.) but not necessarily in othercountries of Africa.

Legal and ethical issues (e.g. policy, legislation,intellectual property rights). The issue of the Sanpeople alluded to earlier is an example of whylegal issues are important.

IK management issues. Matters bordering onmanagement structures in a country or in-stitution, research, visibility publication (see


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Ocholla & Onyancha, 2006), IK databases,creation of an IK website for its publicity andpromotion (see Le Roux, 2003) are equallyvalid issues.

Education and training. For example, work-shops, seminars, conferences, short courses, IK

knowledge, fair sharing of best practices, IKmarketplace, popularisation of IK (e.g. inschools and in the curriculum of educationinstitutions), which extends to the teaching ofAfrican history and literature to students (seethe African Writers Series works written byNgugi wa Thiongo, Chinua Achebe, WoleSoyinka, etc.), thus bringing them closer toindigenous context.

Integration of IK with KM. This should featurein KM research and teaching, curriculumdevelopment, publications, funding, etc.

IK brain drain. This first occurs in instanceswhen an IK holder dies with knowledge thathas not been widely shared through knowl-edge codification. Thus, when an IK holderdies, a whole community library disappearswithout a trace. This type of brain drain isfrequently ignored, yet quite important. Braindrain also occurs in the form of migratedarchives, where the IK of a community isdisplaced or transferred from its originallocation to a foreign location, thereby render-ing access and use difficult or impossible. The

third instance is when a communitys IK dis-appears due to the displacement or relocationof community members as a result of naturalor artificial causes or disasters such as war,flooding or urbanisation.

Conclusions

The achievements made thus far in the revival ofindigenous knowledge, such as in South Africaand by the World Bank and other organisations,should be encouraged, supported and inter-

rogated for further development in South Africaand other parts of the world.

REFERENCES

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Bell, D. 1973. The coming of post-industrial society: A

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Kaniki, A.M. & Mphahlele, K.M.E. 2002. Indigenous

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