Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Towards a Holistic Inclusive Conservation / Satarupa Dutta Majumder.

List of Illustration
Preface
PART 1: Introduction
1. Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Sustainable Development: The Search for Alternative Paradigms
2. Disappearing Ecosystems, Land, People and Languages.

PART II: HISTORICAL CONTEXTUALIZATION
3. Nature Conservation: Beginnings, History, Trends
4. Cultural Heritage Conservation
5. Museums

PART III: TOWARDS AN ALTERNATIVE CONSERVATION/DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM
6. Revisiting Indigenous Epistemology
7. Ecosemiotic Community Museology
8. ECM

PART IV: INTERFACING IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD
9. Cross-Cultural Knowledge Integration in a Globalizing World
10. The Role of ICTs in conservation of Indigenous Heritage
11. Introducing, Issues and Indigenous Intellectual property rights

PART V: STRENGTHENING THE CASE: CASE STUDIES AND CONCLUSIONS

Abbreviations
Bibliography

Although there has been, in recent times, a widespread interest in pre­servation and promotion of Indigenous Heritage or Knowledge Systems from a variety of disciplines and sectors, from across the globe – the design principles or modalities of a holistic conservation remains largely un­explored. This volume explores this lacunae and proposes the concept of Ecosemiotic Community Museuology (ECM), and a road map for it, through theory and practice. Based on the trajectories of conservation – natural, cultural and museological – down time, and indigenous epistemological premises brought forth from previous research, the treatise proposes the concept of ECM as a paradigm for successful community-based con­servation of indigenous knowledge systems or indigenous biocultural heritage in its holistic wholeness. While taking into cognizance the issues of interfacing – namely, cross-cultural knowledge integration, Information and Communication Techno­logies (ICT) and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), the volume attempts to add value to its basic ecosemiotic museological proposition, and strengthen its case, through presentation of, and comments on, a diverse range of secondary case studies of ongoing conservational initiatives from across the globe that highlight the ingredients of success as well as non-performance of such efforts. The ultimate goal of the historical surveys, intellectual exercises and the case studies in this volume are to capture the nuances that can help decolonize not just ‘museology’ or ‘conservation’ but ‘development’ and ‘sustainability’ itself. And, hopefully, help make advances towards a decentralized museological governance for the invaluable indigenous biocultural heritage that still lies strewn across the globe, in various stages of decimation.