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Indigenous Knowledge: Beyond Protection, Towards Dialogue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Michael Davis
Michael Davis*
Affiliation:
Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales, 2007, Australia
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Abstract

This paper interrogates the emphasis on devising regimes for protection of Indigenous knowledge, based on narrowly defined concepts of property, especially intellectual property in legislative and policy discussions and debates and programs of work on Indigenous knowledge. Commenting on the classificatory and typological tendencies of legislative protection regimes, the paper argues for a shift from this emphasis on protection, toward the creation of a space for engagement between Indigenous, and other knowledge traditions, wherein concepts of dialogue, negotiation and agreement-making can occur. The paper supports its argument by reviewing selected legal instruments such as the 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage, and drawing on some of the author's experience working with Aboriginal people in the Kimberley.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 37 , supplement S1: Indigenous Studies - Indigenous Knowledge: Navigating the Interface , 2008 , pp. 25 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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