About this issue
The concept of biocultural diversity was introduced by ethnobiologists to argue that the variation within ecological systems is inextricably linked to cultural and linguistic differences. It has generated much interesting research and has influenced the politics of conservation. However, it is not without its critics. In this volume of RCC Perspectives, scholars from a wide range of fields reflect on the definition, impact, and possible vulnerabilities of the concept. Understandings of biocultural diversity have had and will have a significant impact on resource use and conservation, and on the transformation of landscapes. While the concept may help preserve what we value, we must ensure that it does not lead to forms of cultural or ecological imperialism.
How to cite: Martin, Gary, Diana Mincyte, and Ursula Münster (eds.), “Why Do We Value Diversity? Biocultural Diversity in a Global Context,” RCC Perspectives 2012, no 9. doi.org/10.5282/rcc/5599.
Content
- Introduction by Gary Martin, Diana Mincyte, and Ursula Münster
Problematizing Biocultural Diversity
A. Economics, Markets, and Capitalism
- E.O. Wilson’s Biodiversity, Commodity Culture, and Sentimental Globalism by Cheryl Lousley
- Economic Diversity as a Performative Ontological Project by Katherine Gibson
- The Work of Wildness: Diversity and Difference in a Southwest Alaskan Salmon Fishery by Karen Hébert
- Pitfalls and Opportunities in the Use of the Biodiversity Concept as a Political Tool for Forest Conservation in Brazil by José Augusto Pádua
B. Indigenous Communities and Classifications
- Contentious Diversities and Dangerous Species: Biocultural Diversity in the Context of Human-Animal Conflicts by Ursula Münster
- The Politics of Making Biocultural Diversity by Michael Hathaway
- Biocultural Diversity and the Problem of the Superabundant Individual by Spencer Schaffner
- The Geopolitics of Difference: Geographical Indications and Biocultural Otherness in the New Europe by Diana Mincyte
- Chernobyl Mono-Cropped by Kate Brown
- Playing the Matrix: The Fate of Biocultural Diversity in Community Governance and Management of Protected Areas by Gary Martin
Rethinking Biocultural Diversity
- Volatile Bodies, Volatile Earth: Towards an Ethic of Vulnerability by Myra J. Hird
- Seeing the Trees from the Biocultural Diversity: Forestry Management, Smallholder Agriculture, and Environmental Politics in Ghana by Kojo Amanor
- Biodiversity in Satoyama Conservation: Aesthetics, Science, and the Politics of Knowledge by Shiho Satsuka
- Mapping Biocultural and Economic Diversity … Everywhere by Kevin St. Martin
- Thneeds Reseeds: Figures of Biocultural Hope in the Anthropocene by S. Eben Kirksey
- Contaminated Diversity in “Slow Disturbance”: Potential Collaborators for a Liveable Earth by Anna Tsing
