Abstract
Inthgenous knowledge is neither static nor frozen. Rattier it is socially dynamic and culturally appropriate as it is practiced in the local environment. It has evolved from years of collective learning experience through the process of trial and error. Inthgenous knowledge confronts the corn-mothfication of science and the consumer parathgm. This knowledge is developed through a practice of experiential learning by the people within the geographic area or culture. It is derived from multiple sources within the natural environment; it is holistic and inclusive (Barua & Wilson, 2005; Dei, Hall, & Rosenberg, 2000). Such inthgenous knowledge has been neglected or stripped down in the implementation of the Western development model in rural Bangladesh. Over the years, the Western model of development has thsregarded the thversity of inthgenous knowledge and culture in order to promote a Eurocentric-monoculture in the southeastern part of Bangladesh. The enormous thffusion of commercialization tends to regulate ethnic minorities’ (i.e., the rural Chakma and Marma communities) ways of life through centralized urban control and the construction of a dam and establishment of various projects for industrialization. Over the last four decades, the oppressive politics and policies of development have eroded the decentralized decision-making process, knowledge, culture, and livelihoods of ethnic minorities in the hilly land.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Agrawal, A. (1995). Dismanding the divide between Indigenous and scientific knowledge. Development and Change, 26, 413–439.
Ariyaratne, A. T. (1996). Village stuthes for development purposes (pp. 77–86). InN. Ratnapala (ed.), Buddhism and sarvodaya, Sri Lankan Experience. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications.
Ariyaratne, A. T., & J. Macy. (1992). The island of temple and tank, sarvodaya: Self-help in Sri Lanka (pp. 78–86). In M. Batchelor & K. Brown (eds.), Buddhism and ecology. London, England: Cassell Publishers.
Barkat, A. (2009). Life and livelihood of inthgenous peoples in the Chittagong hill tracts: What we know? Paper presented at the Regional Seminar, Organized by Bangladesh Economic Association Chittagong Chapter and Economic Department, February 28, 2009, University of Chittagong.
Barua, B. P. (2001). Ethnicity and national integration in Bangladesh: A study of the Chittagong hill tracts. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications.
Barua, B. P (2004). Western education and modernization in a Buddhist village of Bangladesh: A case of the Barua community. Unpublished doctoral thssertation, Department of Sociology and Equity Stuthes in Education, Ontario Institute for Stuthes in Education, University of Toronto.
Barua, B. P (2007). Colonialism, education and rural Buddhist communities in Bangladesh. International Education, 37(1), 60–76.
Barua, B. (2009). Nonformal education, economic growth and development: Challenges for rural Buddhists in Bangladesh (pp. 125–140). In A. Abth & D. Kapoor (eds.), Global perspective on adult education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Barua, B., & M. Wilson. (2005). Agroforestry and development: Displacement of Buddhist values in Bangladesh. Canathan Journal of Development Stuthes, 26(2), 233–246.
Battiste, M. (2000). Reclaiming Inthgenous voice and vision. Vancouver, Canada: UBC Press.
Bertocci, P. (1984). Resource development and ethnic conflict: The case of Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh (pp. 345–361). In M. S. Qureshi (ed.), Tribal culture in Bangladesh. Rajshahi, Bangladesh: Institute of Bangladesh Stuthes, Rajshahi University Press.
Brokensha, D. W., D. M. Warren, & O. Werner (1980). Introduction (pp. 1–8). In D. W Brokensha, D. M. Warren, & O. Werner (eds.), Lnthgenous knowledge systems and development. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Carino, J. (1999). The world commission on dams: A review of hydroelectric projects and the impact on inthgenous peoples and ethnic minorities. Cultural Survival Quarterly, 23(3), 53–56.
Castellano, M. B. (2000). Updating aboriginal trathtions of knowledge (pp. 21–36). In G. S Dei, B. L. Hall, & D. Golthn-Rosenberg (eds.), Lnthgenous knowledges in global contexts: Multiple reathngs of our world Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Chakma, S. (2007). Chakma Utshob O Bibah [Festivals and marriage of the Chakma community]. In S. Chakma (ed.), Parbarto Chotrogram Upojati Uthshob O Bibah. [Tribal festivals and marriage of the Chittagong Hill Tracts]. Rangamati, Bangladesh: Tribal Cultural Institute.
Debrah, K. O. (1994). Local knowledge of farmers in Ghana: Implications for extension and sustainable development programs. Unpublished doctoral thssertation, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Dei, G. J. S., B. L Hall, & D. Golthn-Rosenberg (2000). Introduction (pp. 3–17). In G. J. S. Dei, B. L. Hall, & D. Golthn-Rosenberg (eds.), Indigenous knowledges in global contexts: Multiple reathngs of our world. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press.
Deshler, D. (1996, April). External and local knowledge—Possibilities for integration. Africa Notes, 1–3.
Dewan, A. K. (1990). Class and ethnicity in the hills of Bangladesh. Unpublished doctoral thssertation, Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Dewan, A. K. (1993). The inthgenous people of the Chittagonghill tracts: Restructuring of political systems. In M. K. Raha & I. A. Khan (eds), Polity, political process and social control in South Asia: The tribal and rural perspectives. New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House.
Gamage, D. T (2001). A monastery system of higher education: Twenty-three centuries of Sri Lankan experience. Asian Profile, 29(1), 31–41.
Gain, P. (1998). The last forests of Bangladesh. Dhaka: Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD).
Gain, P. (ed.) (2000). The Chittagong hill tracts: Life and nature at risk. Dhaka: Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD).
Haque, E. (1990). Tensions in the Chittagong hill tracts (pp. 43–65). In S. Haq & E. Haque (eds.), Disintegrative progress in action: The case of South Asia. Dhaka: Bangladesh institute of Law and International Affairs.
Heyd, T (1996). Reaction to Dr. Agrawal’s article. Inthgenous Knowledge Monitor, 4(1), 1–4.
Howes, M., & R. Chambers (1980). Inthgenous technical knowledge: Analysis, implications and issues (pp. 239–340). In W. Brokensha & O. Werner (eds.), Inthgenous knowledge systems and development. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Kapoor, D. (2007). Subaltern social movement learning and the decolonization of space in Intha. International Education, 37(1), 10–41.
Khan, A. M. (1999). The Maghs: A Buddhist community in Bangladesh. Dhaka: University Press Limited.
Korten, D. (1990). Getting to the 21st century: Voluntary action and the global agenda. West Hartford, Connecticut: Kumarian Press.
Kothari, B. (1996). Towards a praxis of oppressed local knowledges: Participatory ethnobotanical research in inthgenous communities of Ecuador. Unpublished doctoral thssertation, Department of Education, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Miles, A. (2004). Women’s work, nature and colonial exploitation: Feminist struggle for alternatives to corporate globalization. Canathan Journal of International Development Stuthes, Special issue, 21, 855–878.
Mohammud, A. (2005). Plunder of forest resources unabated in Rangamati, Bangladesh. Retrieved from, http://www.sos-arsenic.net.
Mohsin, A. (1997). The politics of nationalism: The case of Chittagong hill tracts. Bangladesh, Dhaka: University Press Limited.
Mohsin, A. (2003). The Chittagong hill tracts, Bangladesh: On the diffìcult road to peace. Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc.
Mohsin, A., & I. Ahmed. (1996) Modernity, alienation and the environment: The experience of the hill people. Journal of Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, 41(2), 265–286.
Norberg-Hodge, H. (1991). Ancient futures, learning from Ladakh. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
O’Sullivan, E. (n.d.). What kind of education should you experience at a university. Toronto, Canada: Ontario Institute for Stuthes in Education, University of Toronto. Retrieved from, http://www.taiga.net/eecom2001/papers/ osullivan.pdf
Phillips, L., & S. Ilcan. (2004). Capacity-builthng: The neoliberal governance of development. Canathan Journal of Development Stuthes, 25(3), 393–409.
Rafi, M. (2001). Immigration and political development history (pp. 21–32). In M. Rafi & A. M. R. Chowdhury (eds.), Counting the hills: Assessing development in Chittagong hill tracts. Dhaka: United Press.
Rahman, A. M. (1995). Participatory development: Toward liberation or co-option? (pp. 24–32). In G. Craig & M. Mayo (eds.), Community empowerment: A reader in participation and development. London: Zed Books.
Rahman, A. M., A. Khisa, S. B. Udthn, & C. C. Wilcock (2000). Inthgenous knowledge of plant use in a hill tracts tribal community and its role in sustainable development (pp. 75–78). In P. Sillitoe (ed.), Inthgenous knowledge development in Bangladesh: Present and future. Dhaka: University Press Limited.
Rashid, H. (2009, June 30). Tipaimukh Dam. The Daily Star (Dhaka), 19(165), 10.
Roy, A. (2008). The shape of the beast. Delhi, Intha: Penguin and Viking.
Samad, S. (1994, November 12). Environmental refugees in CHT Weekly Holiday, 2.
Samad, S (2000). Dams caused environmental refugees of ethnic minorities: Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, Serial NO SOC032. Retrieved from, http://www.dams.org/kbase.submissions/showsub.php?rec=SOC032
Semali, L. (1996). Reaction to Dr. Agrawal’s article. Inthgenous Knowledge Monitor, 4(1), 12–15.
Shiva, V. (1989). Staying alive: Women, ecology and development. London: Zed Books.
Shiva, V. (2000a). Foreword: Cultural thversity and the politics of knowledge (pp. vii-x). In G. J. S. Dei, B. L. Hall, & D. Golthn-Rosenberg (ed oronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Shiva, V. (2000b). Tomorrow’s biothversity. New York: Thames and Hudson Inc.
Shoenu, M. (2007). Marma Utshob O Bibah [Festivals and marriage of the Marma community]. In S. Chakma (ed.), Parbarto Chotrogram Upojati Uthshob O Bibah. [Tribal festivals and marriage of the Chittagong Hill Tracts]. Rangamati, Bangladesh: Tribal Cultural Institute.
Talukder, S. (2006). The Chakma race. Rangamati, Bangladesh: Tribal Cultural Institute.
Tripura, P. (2000). Culture, identity and development. In P. Gain (ed.), The Chittagong hill tracts: Life and nature at risk (pp. 97–105). Dhaka: Society for Environment and Human Development.
Warren, D. (1991). Using Inthgenous knowledge in agricultural development. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
United Nations (1990). Report of the world summit for social development.
UNESCO (1995). The cultural thmension of development: Towards a practical approach. Paris: Author.
Zaman, M. Q. (1984). Tribal issues and national integration: The Chittagong hill tracts (pp. 311–324). In M. S. Qureshi (ed.), Tribal cultures in Bangladesh. Rajshahi, Bangladesh: Institute of Bangladesh Stuthes, Rajshahi University Press.
Zaman, M. Q. (1996). Development and thsplacement in Bangladesh: Toward a resetdement policy. Asian Survey, 26(7), 691–703.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2010 Dip Kapoor and Edward Shizha
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Barua, B.P. (2010). Ethnic Minorities, Indigenous Knowledge, and Livelihoods: Struggle for Survival in Southeastern Bangladesh. In: Kapoor, D., Shizha, E. (eds) Indigenous Knowledge and Learning in Asia/Pacific and Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230111813_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230111813_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-38311-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-11181-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave Education CollectionEducation (R0)