About This Project

The ownership of knowledge is one of the most contested topics of our times, but little is known about how attitudes differ from the law. Crucially, the views of people outside of the European-derived legal sphere—Indigenous communities in particular—are largely ignored and unknown in debates about IP and the ownership of knowledge. This project will examine views about ownership of cultural knowledge in Indigenous Achuar communities in Ecuador.

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What is the context of this research?

There has been much debate outside Indigenous communities about conflicts between Indigenous and non-Indigenous conceptions of intangible property. The majority of the work has focused on rapidly developing domains such as software , design , and domains such as publishing and music. Some work has looked at concepts of knowledge ownership in non-Western contexts, such as attitudes about ownership of farming innovations among African farmers , concepts of knowledge ownership in historical and contemporary China, and ceremonial songs used in shamanic practices among Amazonian communities. Such research has informed debates about how IP law should be constructed, but there been little research comparing intuitions about ethics related to IP.

What is the significance of this project?

The significance of this project aims to reveal the complex ways in which Achuar attitudes about themes related to IP are not reflected by current IP law as it stands. In preliminary research I have found that differences exist between Achuar and the U.S. with respect to what kinds of knowledge can or can’t be owned. This pushes against ideologies of entrepreneurship and capitalism that suggest that virtually anything can be “owned” by individuals or corporations. This is an important series of findings because it provides examples of non-Western frameworks. This is a direct answer to the fact that discussions of ownership and property in the West are largely discussed within legal frameworks

What are the goals of the project?

This project will employ a transdisciplinary approach to examine views about ownership of cultural knowledge in Indigenous Achuar communities in Ecuador, and compare these views with data collected using overlapping methods in the United States. Within this context, my research questions are: What types of intangible Achuar cultural knowledge can be understood as property? Who can own such forms of knowledge under what conditions can it be possessed, and how must it be transmitted and controlled? Additionally, I will examine the ethical issues surrounding attitudes towards ownership of cultural property.