ABSTRACT
No single knowledge form can be a panacea for addressing climate change and other disaster risk reduction (DRR) or long-term environmental concerns. However this chapter argues that indigenous knowledge in all its varied and diverse forms has the potential for contributing far more than is usually permitted in mainstream scientific literature. Our aim here is to highlight the relationship between indigenous knowledge and DRR in small-island contexts, where questions of vulnerability and resilience are frequently magnified. We also identify points where the primarily development-oriented, fieldwork-based examples in this chapter might intersect with environmental humanities research, particularly in terms of how cultural and political insights can enhance DRR strategies. We do this in awareness of the historical power relations—not least imperialism—that have worked to segregate indigenous knowledge from empirical scientific traditions (see e.g. Whitt 2009), and aim to open up pathways toward more empowering modes of synthesis and exchange in support of DRR. The chapter engages self-consciously with one of the dominant philosophical and narrative forms with respect to global ecologies—scientific rationalism—and highlights points of departure for an increasingly holistic and methodologically variegated approach to disaster research. This involves two parallel forms of knowledge combination: between indigenous and non-indigenous perspectives on DRR, and between scientific research articulations and emerging environmental humanities concerns.
