Contributions of decolonial thinking about science and its praxis in the context of indigenous people and local communities

Abstract

The universe of scientific research involving Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) is not limited to the conditions established by Law 13.123 of 2015, which regulates investigations on traditional knowledge associated with genetic heritage (CTA). From anthropological interest to ethnosciences (ethnobiology, ethnobotany etc.) there is already a great accumulation of knowledge and practices in the field of studies of the culture-nature relationship. In this context, we deal not only with ethical issues, much debated and with considerable progress, but also with the disputes inherent within science, added to the tensions generated by inter-epistemic encounters. A scenario that increasingly requires dialogical practices, co-production of knowledge and the right of access to scientific spaces by IPLCs as subjects of knowledge. Reflect on learning and ongoing changes in the universe of ethnosciences, and from an academic place, we start from the three domains of coloniality (of being, knowledge and power) to build a critical reflection on science and its practice in this context. At first, we make an ontological discussion (domain of being), which can be useful to situate the place of research in the complex reality of IPLCs, and then, through the domain of knowledge, we look at issues that touch epistemology and its theories and methodologies, evoking the role of 'Southern epistemologies' in this scenario. Finally, through the domain of power, we bring aspects of the reality that structure scientific practice, such as access and democratic participation, conquered rights and post-research relations.