Indigenous Knowledge and Development

Livelihoods, Health Experiences, and Medicinal Plant Knowledge in a Mexican Biosphere Reserve

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Health, Alternative & Holistic Health, Herbal Medications, History, Americas, Mexico, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Indigenous Knowledge and Development by Elizabeth Anne Olson, Lexington Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Elizabeth Anne Olson ISBN: 9780739176641
Publisher: Lexington Books Publication: February 21, 2014
Imprint: Lexington Books Language: English
Author: Elizabeth Anne Olson
ISBN: 9780739176641
Publisher: Lexington Books
Publication: February 21, 2014
Imprint: Lexington Books
Language: English

Indigenous Knowledge and Development: Livelihoods, Health Experiences, and Medicinal Plant Knowledge in a Mexican Biosphere Reserve provides an ethnographic account of a group of indigenous people living in a natural resource protected area in west central Mexico. The political, economic, and social history of these indigenous Nahua people is related to their cultural knowledge. As an anthropological study, the analysis presented in this book is based on household level socioeconomic data and cultural knowledge measured through the use of both structured and semi-structured interviews. The study presented here moves back and forth between the macro- and micro- to explore the relationships between three central axes—health, livelihood and cultural knowledge. The Sierra of Manantlán Biosphere Reserve is the fieldsite where this study was carried out during 2007 and 2008. This Reserve is governed by explicit goals of cultural and natural resource preservation. Exhaustive household censuses give a comprehensive view of livelihood activities, and individual health experiences are measured using a structured interview. Demonstrated through the economic activity profiles present in the study sample, the indigenous people in the Reserve subsist through low-intensity agriculture, animal husbandry, and paid labor. Political histories of Mexico and the Reserve, specifically, continually shape subsistence strategies and the agrarian communities. Medical pluralism and the health profile in Mexico influence the local-level health status and access to health care services in the Reserve, demonstrated by the persistence of medicinal plant knowledge. The interviews with medicinal plant experts and biomedical practitioners are used to illustrate the spectrum of opinions regarding usage of medicinal plants across the three study communities in the Reserve. Significantly, there is neither a direct nor linear relationship between the loss of cultural knowledge and increasing modernity. This research contributes to ethnographic knowledge about conservation and cultural heritage on protected areas in Mexico.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Indigenous Knowledge and Development: Livelihoods, Health Experiences, and Medicinal Plant Knowledge in a Mexican Biosphere Reserve provides an ethnographic account of a group of indigenous people living in a natural resource protected area in west central Mexico. The political, economic, and social history of these indigenous Nahua people is related to their cultural knowledge. As an anthropological study, the analysis presented in this book is based on household level socioeconomic data and cultural knowledge measured through the use of both structured and semi-structured interviews. The study presented here moves back and forth between the macro- and micro- to explore the relationships between three central axes—health, livelihood and cultural knowledge. The Sierra of Manantlán Biosphere Reserve is the fieldsite where this study was carried out during 2007 and 2008. This Reserve is governed by explicit goals of cultural and natural resource preservation. Exhaustive household censuses give a comprehensive view of livelihood activities, and individual health experiences are measured using a structured interview. Demonstrated through the economic activity profiles present in the study sample, the indigenous people in the Reserve subsist through low-intensity agriculture, animal husbandry, and paid labor. Political histories of Mexico and the Reserve, specifically, continually shape subsistence strategies and the agrarian communities. Medical pluralism and the health profile in Mexico influence the local-level health status and access to health care services in the Reserve, demonstrated by the persistence of medicinal plant knowledge. The interviews with medicinal plant experts and biomedical practitioners are used to illustrate the spectrum of opinions regarding usage of medicinal plants across the three study communities in the Reserve. Significantly, there is neither a direct nor linear relationship between the loss of cultural knowledge and increasing modernity. This research contributes to ethnographic knowledge about conservation and cultural heritage on protected areas in Mexico.

More books from Lexington Books

Cover of the book Social Media by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book The Politics and Philosophy of Chinese Power by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book Indian Diaspora in the United States by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book Locke, Hume, and the Treacherous Logos of Atomism by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book Politics, Poverty, and Microfinance by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book Steve Biko by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book News, Neoliberalism, and Miami's Fragmented Urban Space by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book Educating the Hungarian Roma by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book The Ecology of Money by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book The Complex Reality of Religious Peacebuilding by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book China's Urban Health Care Reform by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book The Political Aesthetics of ISIS and Italian Futurism by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book The Commerce of Peoples by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book Schools and Public Health by Elizabeth Anne Olson
Cover of the book Africana Race and Communication by Elizabeth Anne Olson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy