Bio-Cultural Diversity, Ethnicity, and Local Knowledge
Description
This book explores the interconnections between biodiversity, cultural knowledge, and resource management in Lanna in Northern Thailand, and Northeast India. By examining traditional practices, economic activities, and gender roles, the book contributes to the repertoire of local knowledge concerning resource management which may lead to policies that balance conservation with sustainable development. Today, urban and rural communities worldwide, especially in tropical regions, face crises in economic, agricultural, environmental, and cultural dimensions. The breakdown of human-nature relationships has become an urgent issue that people globally are beginning to recognize. Crucial research questions in biodiversity studies are: how can we extract lessons from various field studies to restore local communities' capacity to manage biodiversity? How can we empower communities to regain control over production, utilization, and genetic resource development, including knowledge about food, medicine, and other natural resources? Relevant to scholars in anthropology, environmental social sciences, ethnic and cultural studies, this is a timely volume in sustainable development studies in Asia.
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Yos Santasombat is Professor of Anthropology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, and Senior Research Scholar, Thailand Research Fund. His English language publication includes Lak Chang: A Reconstruction of Tai Identity in Daikong (Canberra: Pandanus Books, ANU, 2001); Biodiversity, Local Knowledge and Sustainable Development (Chiang Mai: RCSD, 2003, 2014); Flexible Peasants: Reconceptualizing the Third World's Rural Types (Chiang Mai: RCSD, 2008); The River of Life: Changing Ecosystems of the Mekong Region (Chiang Mai: Mekong Press, 2011); as well as the edited volumes Impact of China's Rise in the Mekong Region (Palgrave Macmillan 2015); and Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia: Cultures and Practices (Palgrave Macmillan 2017), and the Sociology of Chinese Capitalism: Challenges and Prospects (Palgrave Macmillan 2019), Transnational Chinese Diaspora in Southeast Asia: Case Studies from Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore (Springer 2022), ); Impact of China's BRI on Southeast Asia (Springer 2025); and China's BRI in Southeast Asia: Concepts and Methodologies (Kyoto University Press 2025).
Content
Understanding an Idea of Common Commons across Southeast Asia and North-East India.- Relationship of Local wisdom, Biodiversity and Ethnicity on Food of North-East India with special reference to Assam: Probing and Understanding from Women's Perspective.- Comparative Ethnobotany of Northern Thailand and Northeastern India: Food Plants of Tibeto-Burman Groups in Lanna and Nagaland.- The Forest Guardians: A Comparative Analysis of Indigenous Knowledge and Community Forest Governance in Northern Thailand and Nagaland, India.- Bio-Cultural Harmony: Jhum, Livelihood and Forest Conservation in Nagaland.- Understanding Naga Traditional Attires from Semiotic Perspective.- Rice-cum-Fish Agricultural Practices, Cultural Landscape, and Agroecology in Nagaland : A Reflection for Northern Thailand.- A Historical, Gender-Role, and Feasibility-Based Investigation from Meitei Perspective in Manipur.- Cultural Commoditization and the Empowerment of Ethnic Women in Community-Based Eco-Tourism.- Segregation and Struggling Ethnic Women in the Tea Industry in Northeast India and Northern Thailand.- Footprints Across Centuries: The Young Legacy of Cross, Crown, and Creature.- Lanna and Nagas Wood-Carvings in the era of Covid Pandemic.- Gods and Spirits in the Naga World of Woodcarvings.