We call for a Phase VI to address colonial legacies in the field and ongoing colonialism globally. Guided by turns in other disciplines, we argue that ethnobiologists' work needs to go beyond adhering to and satisfying ethical guidelines and be actively decolonizing
we need to go beyond ethical protocols and into active decolonization
‘If we can only receive by giving, then we must begin to give’ (Phatthanaphraiwan & Greene, 2025). The ecological and social challenges we collectively, albeit differentially, confront today in the form of climate change, biodiversity decline and social injustice were created over hundreds of years of appropriation, structural violence on Indigenous, Afro-descendant and other frontline communities globally (Correia, 2024). To guide sustainability management in more ethical and equitable ways, we need to address these relations by recognising the existent inherited prejudice, power asymmetry and hierarchical status. Hence, it is necessary to imagine that rebuilding healthy relations will also take time.
colonial past implications for reciprocity practice
While the role of IP and LC is increasingly recognised in academic and international policy arenas, a lack of recognition by national governments and some academic fora persists (McElwee et al., 2020; Tormos-Aponte, 2021). Lack of awareness is fourfold: epistemological (different knowledge production and validation methods), ontological (different assumptions of reality), ethical (different moral responsibilities between human and non-human beings) and political (different positions of power to enforce perspectives in collaborative practices, Ludwig & El-Hani, 2020).
the political problem. How to go beyond academic reciprocity and into social reciprocity.
This relationship between the human and the non-human has been conceptualised as ‘kincentric ecology’ (Bird-David, 1999; Salmón, 2000). From this perspective, plants, animals and fungi are not seen as food or material sources, but rather as vital participants in a relational web that connects humans and animals to spirits, ancestors and other beings. For example, in Baka knowledge systems, individuals of each type of being (‘species’) only exist through their interactions with many other beings and their shared environment, which they all constantly change (Hoyte & Mangombe, 2024).
Similar to the concept of agential realism!
In many cultures, reciprocity is understood as an interpersonal and communal responsibility to ensure the welfare of the community and the social-ecological system as a whole, where ancestors and those yet to be born are equally considered (Fernández-Llamazares & Virtanen, 2020).
key term here: "ancestors". We need to think of reciprocity in a way that account for the years of exploitation of our ancestors.
Good practices & FAQ
Really cool resource to apply to academic work!