Abstract
ABSTRACT This article explores the evolution of the subject-object relationship in ethnobotanical research. Discussion of the main tendencies of each time period revealed a great distance between subject and object during the beginning of ethnobotany, which decreased in subsequent phases, and only became absent in some contemporary works. Furthermore, paradigmatic transitions in ethnobotany were found to be incomplete and multiple paradigms were found to coexist simultaneously in present time, despite important epistemological ruptures. Analysis of presentations at the last Congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology revealed not only an expressive participation of traditional communities, but also a considerable amount of work based on the autobotanical approach; a recent trend that expresses a greater symmetry in the consideration of different ways of thinking, knowing and performing research in ethnobotany. Finally, this article discusses the profile of the new ethnobotanists, who often occupy spaces of mediation among different knowledge systems and social groups due to their capacity for intercultural communication, as well as their preference for action in contexts related to social and environmental justice.
Highlights
This article explores the evolution of the subject-object relationship in ethnobotanical research
Analysis of presentations at the last Congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology revealed an expressive participation of traditional communities, and a considerable amount of work based on the “autobotanical” approach; a recent trend that expresses a greater symmetry in the consideration of different ways of thinking, knowing and performing research in ethnobotany
Whereas research methodology is related to the strategy, plan of action, process or design behind the choice and use of particular methods to reach the desired outcomes, the epistemology refers to the theory of knowledge embedded in the theoretical perspective and thereby in the methodology (Crotty 1998)
Summary
This article explores the evolution of the subject-object relationship in ethnobotanical research. Analysis of presentations at the last Congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology revealed an expressive participation of traditional communities, and a considerable amount of work based on the “autobotanical” approach; a recent trend that expresses a greater symmetry in the consideration of different ways of thinking, knowing and performing research in ethnobotany.
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