Emics, etics, ethics and equity in the dialogue between worlds: Beyond bridges, integration, partnerships, scales and other common concepts in the utilization of traditional ecological knowledge

Anthropologists have made the distinction between an emic, or insider's point of view, and an etic, or outsiders point of view in the study of culture. The emic is the cultural insiders' perspective, expressed in yerms and concepts that have meaning within a local and historical context. The etic point of view, particularly when connected with scientific research, is often portrayed as universal, objective, truth-oriented and culturally neutral. It tends to treat the insider's view, no matter how sophisticated, as "just so" stories that require translation into a superior, more theoretically grounded language before it can be understood and utilized. This process of traditional knowledge transfer, external validation, and application has dominated the history of scientist/indigenous peoples’ collaborations for the last three decades, and has been largely one-sided in benefitting outsiders.

This presentation covers four dimensions of the relationships of indigenous peoples and scientiststhat should be addressed to develop equitable and respectful partnerships: 1. The cultural dimensions of knowledge sharing and customary laws and norms; 2. The Western legal dimensions of knowledge sharing, particularly as related to genetic and natural resources; 3. Strategic dimensions of knowledge sharing, and the use of explicit knowledge sharing risk assessments to take into account issues such as: the risk of undermining traditional values, beliefs and practices; the risk of exploitation and loss of control by knowledge holders; and risks associated with knowledge associated with different kinds of resources; and 4. The political dimensions of collective rights, the right to free, prior and informe consent, indigenous self-determination and political sovereignty and the politics of co-management.