Latin American plant sciences: from early naturalists to modern science

Postcolonialism, decoloniality, and epistemologies of the South (ES) are three main ways of critically approaching the consequences of European colonialism in contemporary social, political, and cultural ways of thinking and acting. They converge in highlighting the unmeasurable sacrifice of human life; the expropriation of cultural and natural wealth; and the destruction, by suppressing, silencing, proscribing, or disfiguring, of non-European cultures and ways of knowing. The differences among them stem in part from the temporal and geographical contexts in which they emerged. Postcolonial studies emerged in the 1960s in the aftermath of the political independence of European colonies in Asia and Africa. They focused mainly on the economic, political, and cultural consequences of decolonization, highlighting the postindependence forms of economic dependence, political subordination, and cultural subalternization. They argue that while historical colonialism had ended (territorial occupation and ruling by a foreign country), colonialism continued under different guises. Decolonial studies emerged in the 1990s in Latin America. Since the political independence of the Latin American countries took place in the early 19th century, these analytical currents assumed that colonialism was over, but it had in fact been followed by coloniality, a global pattern of social interaction that inherited all the social and cultural corrosiveness of colonialism. Coloniality is conceived of as an all-encompassing racial understanding of social reality that permeates all realms of economic, social, political, and cultural life. Coloniality is the idea that whatever differs from the Eurocentric worldview is inferior, marginal, irrelevant, or dangerous. The ES, formulated in the 2000s, aim at naming and highlighting ancient and contemporary knowledges held by social groups as they resisted against modern Eurocentric domination. They conceive of modern science as a valid (and precious) type of knowledge but not as the only valid (and precious) type of knowledge; they insist on the possibility of interknowledge and intercultural translation. ES share with postcolonialism the idea that colonialism is not over. However, they insist that modern domination is constituted not only by colonialism but also by capitalism and patriarchy. Like decolonial studies, the ES denounce the cognitive and ontological destruction caused by coloniality, but they focus on the positiveness and creativity that emerge from knowledges born in struggle and on how they translate themselves into alternative ways of knowing and practicing self-determination.

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Ecological Science in Latin America and the Caribbean

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.780 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Megan Raby

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Latin American ◽

Life Histories ◽

Modern Science ◽

Field Studies ◽

Ecological Research ◽

Forthcoming Article ◽

Colonial Era ◽

Latin American History ◽

The Caribbean

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History. Please check back later for the full article. Fieldwork in Latin America and the Caribbean has played a major role in the development of the modern science of ecology––the study of organisms’ relationships with each other and the physical environment. Since the colonial era, natural historical knowledge grew and circulated through expeditions and naturalists’ encounters with indigenous and enslaved people’s environmental knowledge. Observations of the life histories, behavior, and geographical distribution of the regions’ species laid the groundwork for the emergence of ecology as a self-conscious discipline during the late 19th century. Major figures in the foundation of ecology were inspired by travel throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and especially by the large number and variety of species found in rainforests and other tropical areas. The growth of colonial and independent national scientific institutions––including botanical gardens, museums, and geographical surveys––also created important foundations for ecological research, although these were primarily oriented toward agricultural and economic improvement. As field stations specifically devoted to ecological research emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, long-term, place-based studies of living organisms became possible for the first time. Research at such institutions helped to shape key ecological concepts––including the ecological community, ecosystems, and species diversity––and contributed directly to the rise of the biodiversity ideal in conservation. Despite their historic importance, field studies in Latin America and the Caribbean remain significantly underrepresented in ecology today.

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The Latin American Plant Sciences Network: a collaborative regional effort in science training

Agroforestry Systems ◽

10.1007/bf00711988 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 45-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

M. T. Kalin De Arroyo ◽

S. Dietrich ◽

E. Forero ◽

S. Maldonado

Keyword(s):

Latin American ◽

Plant Sciences ◽

Science Training ◽

Regional Effort

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Latin American Plant Sciences Network: A Program for the Development of Plant Sciences and Conservation of Biodiversity in Latin America

Conserving Biodiversity in Arid Regions ◽

10.1007/978-1-4615-0375-0_27 ◽

2003 ◽

pp. 373-380

Author(s):

Susan Maldonado ◽

Osvaldo Sala ◽

Gloria Montenegro

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Latin American ◽

Plant Sciences ◽

Conservation Of Biodiversity

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Guest Editor's Introduction

The Americas A Quarterly Review of Latin American History ◽

10.1353/tam.2002.0043 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 58 (4) ◽

pp. 509-511

Author(s):

Marshall C. Eakin

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

History Of Science ◽

Latin American ◽

Land Tenure ◽

Modern Science ◽

The United States ◽

Modern World ◽

Western Science ◽

American Science ◽

History Of

Western science has played a fundamental role in the creation of the modern world.1 The emergence of modern science in Europe in the Renaissance accompanied and helped propel European overseas expansion.2 It played an important role in the conquest and colonization of Latin America, and in the "second conquest" in the aftermath of independence in the nineteenth century. Despite its importance, the history of science in Latin America has been inadequately cultivated, especially in comparison to themes such as land tenure, labor systems, slavery, and political power. A few Latin American nations-most notably Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, and Venezuela-have venerable traditions in the publication of works on the history of science that in some cases date back to the beginnings of the discipline in the early twentieth century.3 Only in recent years, however, have North American scholars begun to turn their attention to the history of Latin American science rather than the more intensely studied scientific traditions of Europe and the United States

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Global Plants: A Model of International Collaboration

Biodiversity Information Science and Standards ◽

10.3897/biss.2.28233 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. e28233 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Deirdre Ryan

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Latin American ◽

Type Specimen ◽

Financial Model ◽

Social Sciences And Humanities ◽

The Status ◽

Digital Collection ◽

Plant Sciences ◽

African Plants ◽

The Impact

Global Plants (http://plants.jstor.org) is a community-contributed database that features more than two million high resolution plant type specimen images and other foundational materials from the collections of more than 300 herbaria in 70 countries. Complementing the high resolution specimen images are extensive flora and other reference materials, collectors' correspondence and diaries, and tens of thousands of paintings, photographs, drawings, and other images. Global Plants is the outcome of the African Plants Initiative (API), the Latin American Plants Initiative (LAPI) and the Global Plants Initiative (GPI) which was funded generously by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for over a decade. The vision of creating a digital library of type specimen images and related material available to students and researchers around the world has largely been realized. What has the impact been on herbaria? What is the status of digitization across the partner institutions such as NYBG? How can we continue to keep the network flourishing and ensure all partners can continue to contribute? How has/has the financial model worked to achieve the correct balance between accessibility and sustainability? Looking to the future, we are interested in exploring how the foundation established by Global Plants can be built upon to explore future digital projects that both support and expand upon the existing field of researchers. Existing initiatives include “Global Plants in the Classroom: Botany 101” (http://botany101.jstor.org/), an open teaching resource that introduces botany and the plant sciences to a new audience, and “Livingstone’s Zambezi Expedition (beta)”, a project built with the JSTOR Labs team that explores a different approach to bringing together specimens and historic materials around a specific botanical expedition. Other initiatives in progress include a partnership with Dumbarton Oaks and a new digital collection from JSTOR called Plants & Society, both of which seek to create a space through which scholars from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities can come together in the study of plants and their relationships to humanity.

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