Popular in Law

Human Rights Law

Human Rights and Corruption: Problems and Potential of Individualising a Systemic Problem

Max Planck Institute Anne Peters

Law

A statistical approach to law school citation rankings

University of Virginia Joshua Fischman

Constitutional Law

What is constitutional ideology?

University of Oxford Nick Barber

Civil Procedure Law

Politics, Identity, and Class Certification on the U.S. Courts of Appeals

University of Pennsylvania Sean Farhang

Law

Diversity and Social Mobility in the UK legal profession

Law Society I. Stephanie Boyce

Internet Law

The Law of AI for Good

University of San Diego Orly Lobel

Human Rights Law

Transforming Restorative Justice for Transitional Settings

University of Nottingham Kerry Clamp

A Critical Examination of the African Legal Framework for Indigenous Knowledge

View more insights in Professional - Law - African Law - Socio-legal Studies

View more figures from University of Ottawa

View the page of Chidi Oguamanam

Read the Study

No related posts found.

Indigenous or traditional knowledge (TK) systems are the springboard of authentic African innovation and creativity. Chidi Oguamanam provides a appraisal of the present traction around Indigenous knowledge.

Image courtesy of interviewee. July 23, 2024

Log-in or Sign-up to Faculti
Currently viewing this subject insight as a guest. You have insight(s) remaining for this month. Login to view 8000+ figures on the platform.

Generating Workspace...

Export as PDF

This video discusses the role of Africa in international negotiations regarding indigenous and traditional knowledge, particularly within the frameworks of development, intellectual property, and knowledge governance. It emphasizes Africa's stance as a defender of its traditional knowledge systems, suggesting a need to evaluate how effectively these ideas are integrated into local, regional, and national policies.

The study aims to analyze whether traditional knowledge is internalized in governance structures across the continent and critiques the colonial origins of categorizing knowledge systems as "indigenous." The argument posits that all knowledge systems should be viewed equally, focusing on their contributions to economic and socio-cultural contexts.

This video also critiques current African regional cooperation instruments, noting that they do not adequately elevate traditional knowledge as vital to economic growth and development. While references to these systems do exist, they tend to be peripheral rather than central to policy discussions.

Furthermore, the relationship between traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights is explored, highlighting a tension rooted in the historical dynamics of power and colonialism. The existing intellectual property framework, shaped by Western ideals, often fails to accommodate the communal nature of traditional knowledge, leading to difficulties in recognition and protection.

Finally, the need for Africa to adapt its strategies in light of emerging technologies and global knowledge frameworks is highlighted, advocating for the inclusion of African knowledge systems and values in future governance models, particularly as technology evolves and blurs traditional boundaries.

Language:

Export as PDF

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.715 --> 00:03.125
When you look at the way policies are made,

00:03.285 --> 00:07.075
particularly in the governance of knowledge,

00:07.345 --> 00:10.555
what we have found over the time is there's a tendency

00:10.695 --> 00:15.415
for Africa to always be the defender of indigenous

00:15.675 --> 00:19.945
or traditional knowledge at international negotiations,

00:20.105 --> 00:22.705
particularly in relation to development,

00:22.705 --> 00:25.025
intellectual property and knowledge governance.

00:26.045 --> 00:28.825
And, it almost becomes like

00:29.545 --> 00:33.555
whenever there is a global, issue

00:33.775 --> 00:35.275
or policy making space,

00:35.415 --> 00:38.835
Africa will always literally have the patent

00:39.465 --> 00:42.915
over the issue of traditional or indigenous knowledge.

00:43.655 --> 00:48.435
And it seems ingrained in all of us as Africans,

00:48.435 --> 00:50.795
whether we are bureaucrats or academics

00:50.855 --> 00:52.715
and whatever sphere of work.

00:53.455 --> 00:55.355
And I pulled back to say,

00:55.735 --> 00:59.275
so much has been said about African traditional knowledge.

01:00.015 --> 01:02.995
And, it is important to pull back now

01:03.095 --> 01:07.555
and see to what extent we have actually internalized

01:08.105 --> 01:11.275
traditional knowledge as a significant factor endowment

01:11.295 --> 01:14.595
for our economic and sociocultural emancipation.

01:15.255 --> 01:17.035
So this provides the context

01:17.295 --> 01:20.915
and the aim of this study is to really try

01:20.915 --> 01:22.235
and understand whether

01:22.465 --> 01:26.635
what we do internationally is internalized regionally,

01:26.925 --> 01:30.795
nationally, and in the way the African constitutive

01:30.865 --> 01:32.875
framework for development

01:32.895 --> 01:37.275
and innovation operates right on the African continent.

01:37.295 --> 01:38.795
So this is really the background.

01:38.895 --> 01:43.155
And this study began to really look into critical literature

01:43.575 --> 01:45.915
and institutional governance, mechanisms

01:45.915 --> 01:47.595
and framework across Africa

01:48.055 --> 01:50.995
and through regional economic, commissions.

01:51.495 --> 01:54.635
To, to be able to answer this question, I want

01:54.635 --> 01:56.995
to make it clear that the whole idea

01:57.135 --> 02:01.275
of defining knowledge systems of a particular set of people

02:01.335 --> 02:04.635
as indigenous is actually a colonial

02:05.355 --> 02:07.155
creation is defined by power.

02:07.615 --> 02:11.435
So when you begin to a objectify, a objectify

02:11.495 --> 02:13.875
and knowledge system, you are literally saying

02:13.875 --> 02:16.275
that there is a knowledge system properly.

02:16.275 --> 02:19.195
So-called the rest is indigenous in a matter

02:19.255 --> 02:21.675
of ordering others knowledge systems.

02:21.855 --> 02:24.555
So this is important to us in, in this context.

02:25.175 --> 02:29.715
So when, and this is something we have accepted unwillingly

02:30.295 --> 02:32.835
as a pragmatic, usage.

02:32.945 --> 02:35.915
Otherwise knowledge is knowledge and is knowledge.

02:36.495 --> 02:39.355
But when you say indigenous knowledge systems

02:39.535 --> 02:43.435
or traditional knowledge systems, you are literally saying

02:44.015 --> 02:47.485
in reference to western knowledge systems

02:47.785 --> 02:50.125
or western science as it were.

02:50.665 --> 02:52.565
So this is a knowledge system

02:52.755 --> 02:56.125
that is no different from any other knowledge systems.

02:56.435 --> 02:58.725
It's designed essentially to capture

02:59.785 --> 03:03.005
the knowledge originating from local

03:03.265 --> 03:05.725
or traditional non-Western communities.

03:06.385 --> 03:10.125
And actually it is as a result of intellectual activity

03:10.905 --> 03:14.325
in industrial or traditional context, including

03:14.945 --> 03:18.565
so many other issues like know-how skills innovation,

03:19.125 --> 03:23.045
practices learning, and this knowledge is embodied in the

03:23.045 --> 03:25.245
traditional lifestyles of a community

03:25.505 --> 03:30.245
and is contained in different ways through their practices,

03:30.245 --> 03:32.725
through their social ordering and, and,

03:32.725 --> 03:35.525
and through their expressions, their spirituality,

03:35.575 --> 03:37.245
their arts, their art, their craft,

03:37.505 --> 03:40.325
and everything that defines a people

03:40.985 --> 03:45.405
and gives you an idea of their worldview, their ideology

03:45.505 --> 03:48.205
of sustainability and development.

03:48.465 --> 03:51.645
So, therefore what we have seen is

03:51.645 --> 03:53.565
that when we talk about,

03:54.175 --> 03:55.845
indigenous knowledge systems,

03:56.145 --> 03:58.845
we are talking about a systematized way

03:58.865 --> 04:03.045
of knowledge production, of social cohesion, of existence,

04:03.185 --> 04:06.645
of milestones in, in, in, in social,

04:07.045 --> 04:08.685
classification about gender

04:08.865 --> 04:12.525
and so many things, dancing, songs, music, art.

04:13.065 --> 04:17.085
So in in, in this context, we look at it as holistically

04:17.785 --> 04:20.525
the essence of how people have defined themselves,

04:20.625 --> 04:23.685
how they have lived, how they have interacted with nature.

04:23.905 --> 04:27.885
So you see there is a tendency to talk about traditional

04:28.445 --> 04:30.245
cultural expressions of folklore.

04:30.245 --> 04:33.125
So there we have expressive aspects

04:33.125 --> 04:35.565
of knowledge production in dance, in music,

04:35.705 --> 04:37.325
in creativity, in art.

04:37.665 --> 04:39.845
We also have the environmental component

04:39.845 --> 04:41.485
that talks about relationship

04:41.485 --> 04:44.525
with genetic resources in agriculture and health

04:44.585 --> 04:45.605
and in several ways.

04:45.605 --> 04:49.005
So the essence of this is that the, the contour,

04:49.105 --> 04:52.205
so the boundaries of traditional knowledge systems is not

04:52.205 --> 04:54.565
closed, it is dynamic, it is evolving.

04:54.985 --> 04:56.765
It is literally saying this is

04:56.785 --> 05:00.045
how a people produce knowledge for their own sustainability

05:00.225 --> 05:01.285
as a civilization.

05:01.665 --> 05:06.605
So this is really something that no text I know has defined.

05:06.835 --> 05:11.245
Some will define it enum, some would define it open-ended.

05:11.315 --> 05:13.485
Some would define it in terms of,

05:14.085 --> 05:16.205
classifying the expressive part of it,

05:16.545 --> 05:18.525
the non expressive part of it,

05:18.585 --> 05:20.205
the genetic resources part of it.

05:20.205 --> 05:24.765
So it is the complete amalgam of a people's model

05:24.765 --> 05:27.445
of knowledge production for their own survival.

05:27.915 --> 05:30.925
This is one of the major revelations of this study.

05:31.185 --> 05:34.285
Um, the major constitutive instruments

05:34.285 --> 05:37.925
of African regional corporation, would start with

05:37.985 --> 05:39.725
of course the African Union

05:39.905 --> 05:42.485
or the treaty establishing the African Union, which was

05:42.485 --> 05:44.565
before now the organization of African Unity

05:45.105 --> 05:48.125
and of course the African Economic Commission

05:48.665 --> 05:52.325
and more recently the African continental free trade area.

05:52.865 --> 05:56.085
We also have the charter of African Cultural re Renaissance,

05:56.585 --> 05:59.125
the new partnership for African development,

05:59.745 --> 06:01.965
the conventional conservation of nature

06:02.105 --> 06:03.205
and natural resources.

06:03.325 --> 06:04.485
I can go on and on.

06:04.945 --> 06:08.085
So what we have found is that this

06:09.335 --> 06:12.615
paradigm instruments actually do not

06:14.975 --> 06:18.555
put traditional knowledge as a strong pillar of African

06:19.635 --> 06:22.875
economic solidarity or cooperation or development.

06:23.415 --> 06:26.635
And what has happened is that they begin

06:26.695 --> 06:30.635
to really cast a big picture of how, of the vision

06:30.695 --> 06:32.955
of African development aspirations,

06:33.695 --> 06:37.355
but really do you see them use the word traditional

06:37.355 --> 06:39.155
knowledge or indigenous knowledge systems.

06:39.815 --> 06:42.595
But it all breaks down to secondary

06:42.655 --> 06:46.995
or ary instruments that actually try to begin

06:47.015 --> 06:51.155
to put some of those ideals in the basic text,

06:51.215 --> 06:54.835
in the basic constitutive instruments, into some degree

06:54.835 --> 06:56.115
of operationalization.

06:56.575 --> 06:59.555
So what we found is that traditional knowledge,

06:59.555 --> 07:03.355
indigenous knowledge, did not find what you call,

07:03.635 --> 07:06.875
a front stage traction in the language

07:06.875 --> 07:08.595
of these constitutive instruments,

07:08.975 --> 07:12.115
but they did not completely drop the ball.

07:12.695 --> 07:15.795
It begins to boil down to specific cities

07:15.945 --> 07:18.555
that when they talk about cultural corporation,

07:18.705 --> 07:22.915
talk about sports, talk about exchange of education,

07:22.985 --> 07:26.555
they talk about agriculture, they talk about irrigation,

07:26.555 --> 07:28.635
they talk about fisheries, they talk about

07:29.135 --> 07:33.915
so many other programs that really anate some of these,

07:34.415 --> 07:37.155
big picture issues that are captured in the language

07:37.155 --> 07:38.555
of these tive instruments.

07:38.555 --> 07:42.115
That is then when you begin to see some references,

07:42.485 --> 07:46.035
which I could consider not consistently or synergistically

07:46.295 --> 07:48.115
or deliberately for the most part,

07:48.225 --> 07:50.955
that there is always inevitable references

07:51.095 --> 07:53.075
to African traditional knowledge

07:53.075 --> 07:54.955
or indigenous knowledge system through some

07:54.955 --> 07:57.675
of these statuary instruments and so on.

07:58.715 --> 08:02.875
Regional economic frameworks, probably the ones

08:02.875 --> 08:05.915
that give us some degree of tangibility

08:06.015 --> 08:08.715
or something we can hold onto to say, okay,

08:08.715 --> 08:12.155
they may have actually taught about traditional knowledge.

08:12.295 --> 08:14.755
But then there are eight major

08:15.355 --> 08:18.595
recognized regional economic frameworks in Africa, beginning

08:18.625 --> 08:21.715
with the Southern African development community,

08:22.135 --> 08:24.435
the economic community for West African states,

08:24.495 --> 08:28.315
the East African community, the Union, Duma Arab,

08:28.855 --> 08:31.515
and of course the common market of Eastern

08:31.575 --> 08:32.635
and Southern Africa

08:32.895 --> 08:37.595
and ard, which is the community of Sahel Saharan states.

08:38.175 --> 08:39.995
We have also the economic community

08:39.995 --> 08:41.275
of central African states

08:41.655 --> 08:44.715
and the inner governmental authority on development

08:44.715 --> 08:46.995
of the eight countries of the Horn of Africa.

08:47.455 --> 08:51.875
Now these, these are really major regional economic,

08:52.455 --> 08:55.825
instruments that try to,

08:56.895 --> 09:00.985
give some vent to regional, festering of,

09:01.085 --> 09:02.945
the African Union mandate.

09:03.845 --> 09:08.425
Um, what they have done is also to set up a language

09:08.425 --> 09:11.505
that speaks about economic solidarity cooperation,

09:11.615 --> 09:15.425
improving the wellbeing of people in these regions through

09:15.565 --> 09:18.905
so many, frameworks for development.

09:19.365 --> 09:22.785
And they, they actually also like the constitutive

09:22.815 --> 09:26.305
instruments, of, African continental nature,

09:26.315 --> 09:28.465
which we spoke about, not long ago.

09:28.715 --> 09:32.785
These ones actually also did not really directly speak about

09:32.935 --> 09:34.945
traditional knowledge, but

09:34.945 --> 09:37.345
because the way they are constituted,

09:37.375 --> 09:41.385
they have commissions committees, they have subsidiary

09:41.485 --> 09:44.825
and statuary instruments that, ministers of states

09:44.925 --> 09:47.345
of these, regional bodies

09:47.485 --> 09:50.385
or constitutive countries within this regions tend

09:50.605 --> 09:51.865
to really take charge of.

09:52.285 --> 09:55.865
So in that category, consistent with the framework

09:55.885 --> 09:59.185
and the continental level, the regional economic,

09:59.255 --> 10:03.065
community or commission frameworks actually also

10:03.615 --> 10:07.425
have been able to really reference traditional knowledge

10:07.815 --> 10:10.225
through some of their policies, some

10:10.225 --> 10:11.945
of their subsidiary instruments

10:11.965 --> 10:15.145
and some of the, follow up,

10:15.505 --> 10:18.785
ministerial commitments in, in terms of policies.

10:19.165 --> 10:22.225
So those are actually still touchy

10:22.325 --> 10:26.825
or secondary referred to in even the regional economic.

10:27.085 --> 10:30.345
Uh, the relationship

10:30.615 --> 10:32.625
between traditional knowledge

10:32.645 --> 10:36.105
and intellectual property is some kind

10:36.105 --> 10:40.065
of relationship I would prefer to look at from

10:41.145 --> 10:42.385
probably three perspectives.

10:43.375 --> 10:48.025
One is historical, second is present,

10:48.365 --> 10:50.225
and the third will be the potential.

10:51.145 --> 10:55.155
Now intellectual property is

10:56.125 --> 11:00.425
the western capitalist ideological mechanism

11:00.605 --> 11:02.145
for protection of knowledge

11:02.645 --> 11:04.905
and for reward to knowledge production.

11:05.885 --> 11:08.985
And so it is framed from the neoliberal

11:09.035 --> 11:10.945
capitalist economic point of view.

11:11.415 --> 11:15.065
Whereof the individual is the center of innovation

11:15.565 --> 11:18.305
and creativity, not the community.

11:18.765 --> 11:23.425
And it is structured within very strict legal prisons.

11:23.625 --> 11:25.905
I can give you an example of patents.

11:25.905 --> 11:27.785
Something has to be new, novel,

11:28.535 --> 11:30.505
inventive in order to get patent.

11:30.555 --> 11:32.865
There are check boxes strictly applied,

11:33.245 --> 11:36.265
and then there is copyright that talks about fixation

11:36.285 --> 11:39.145
of expression and so on and so forth.

11:39.285 --> 11:42.865
And of course we have, trademarks and, designs

11:42.965 --> 11:44.705
and so many regimes of ip.

11:45.045 --> 11:48.305
So when you look at how intellectual property is structured,

11:48.405 --> 11:52.545
you could see that it speaks to a specific model of

11:52.545 --> 11:55.725
Knowledge production, the formal scientific model

11:56.035 --> 12:00.535
that is reconciliable with, western legal framework

12:01.225 --> 12:02.935
under the statutory regimes

12:02.935 --> 12:04.455
and sometimes under the common law

12:04.455 --> 12:06.095
of intellectual property rights.

12:06.555 --> 12:10.775
So in this box or in this, in this little space

12:11.035 --> 12:14.735
and narrowly construed indigenous knowledge

12:14.735 --> 12:17.415
or traditional knowledge that I have defined for you

12:17.555 --> 12:20.175
before will find it difficult

12:20.195 --> 12:22.495
to fit within intellectual property.

12:22.675 --> 12:26.615
Prisms example would be that if I was

12:27.545 --> 12:32.325
saying that I have a medicinal plant that is used

12:32.385 --> 12:36.645
to cure a particular disease from time immemorial used

12:36.665 --> 12:39.885
by my community or my clan or my nation.

12:40.865 --> 12:44.925
And it is something that the community treasures as part

12:44.925 --> 12:46.125
of their cultural heritage.

12:47.265 --> 12:52.205
And, we may not know from what or how it came into being

12:52.205 --> 12:54.845
because it's a, it is a knowledge system passed from

12:54.845 --> 12:56.165
generation to generation.

12:56.905 --> 12:59.445
But somebody could come

12:59.585 --> 13:03.725
and begin to break down that medicinal plant from the point

13:03.745 --> 13:06.605
of view of their molecular essence.

13:07.665 --> 13:10.685
And I isolate the active substance there

13:11.265 --> 13:15.525
and now begin to work in white coat laboratory in order

13:15.625 --> 13:20.205
to find a way to structure what we call a patent claim

13:20.265 --> 13:24.005
or write a patent specification that fits within the model

13:24.825 --> 13:27.765
of intellectual property or the patent system.

13:27.835 --> 13:29.125
Then they get a patent.

13:30.565 --> 13:35.425
But that does not naturally happen when you are pro

13:35.755 --> 13:39.385
practicing this kind of innovation from indigenous

13:39.565 --> 13:41.025
or communion knowledge framework.

13:41.565 --> 13:44.985
So the relationship, and I can give you more examples

13:45.005 --> 13:49.545
and copyright if I was to sing a folk song and dance it

13:49.605 --> 13:53.025
and express it in a communal ceremonial context,

13:54.525 --> 13:56.785
and it's passed on generation to generation,

13:56.805 --> 14:00.425
it can be poetry that is recited endlessly over time.

14:01.045 --> 14:05.225
And most of these cultures do not document this in a fixated

14:05.335 --> 14:06.905
form or in written forms

14:07.085 --> 14:11.585
and so on that will be comfortable to be called to, to

14:11.605 --> 14:14.105
to to have a copyright claim over it.

14:14.365 --> 14:17.945
If somebody comes and fixes it or gets a picture of it

14:18.045 --> 14:19.105
or texts and,

14:19.105 --> 14:22.185
and begins to put it in a place where it is tangible,

14:22.735 --> 14:24.065
they can get a copyright.

14:24.405 --> 14:27.225
But the civilization that has been using this song

14:27.285 --> 14:31.465
or these ceremonies, could not claim copyright.

14:31.485 --> 14:33.465
So intellectual property system

14:34.045 --> 14:37.145
and traditional knowledge has a fraught relationship

14:38.035 --> 14:40.685
because it's part of the colonial framework

14:40.765 --> 14:43.805
that defines a certain knowledge system as traditional,

14:43.805 --> 14:46.805
almost like presuming that is not innovative

14:47.745 --> 14:50.605
and that the origin of it is not known

14:50.745 --> 14:52.405
and it is in the public domain.

14:52.405 --> 14:57.325
Everybody can feast on it and then get rewarded

14:57.545 --> 15:01.245
and abandon those who prefer to create in community

15:01.265 --> 15:05.285
and in, so that is a fractured and a fraught

15:05.285 --> 15:06.645
and tense relationship.

15:07.465 --> 15:11.705
But then this is historically and that has been a problem,

15:12.245 --> 15:16.185
but presently there has been a lot of pressure to begin

15:16.185 --> 15:18.225
to open up intellectual property

15:18.285 --> 15:21.145
to accommodate knowledge production systems

15:21.935 --> 15:24.865
outside the strict prison of western scientific

15:25.125 --> 15:26.465
or industrial model,

15:26.555 --> 15:28.825
which the current intellectual property

15:28.825 --> 15:30.265
system is designed for.

15:30.765 --> 15:34.385
And so this is why traditional knowledge is being discussed

15:34.385 --> 15:36.665
in the context of intellectual property rights.

15:37.085 --> 15:41.025
And so going forward there are potentials to really begin

15:41.085 --> 15:43.985
to pressure the, so-called orthodoxy

15:43.985 --> 15:47.545
of the intellectual property system to open it up

15:47.765 --> 15:50.025
to new knowledge production systems

15:50.335 --> 15:53.705
that are captured in traditional knowledge to broaden it

15:53.705 --> 15:54.785
and make it inclusive.

15:55.525 --> 15:58.985
And we know that historically intellectual property has been

15:59.265 --> 16:01.745
recalibrated over time to respond to changing

16:02.045 --> 16:03.825
or changes in technology.

16:04.085 --> 16:08.105
For example, there was originally no intellectual property

16:08.105 --> 16:09.785
granted to to life forms,

16:10.445 --> 16:12.065
but with a boast of technology,

16:12.545 --> 16:15.385
somebody can genetically modify a, an animal

16:15.925 --> 16:17.825
and claim a patent over it.

16:17.845 --> 16:19.705
So we see that's a flexibility,

16:20.085 --> 16:23.705
an intellectual property system to evolve with technology.

16:24.085 --> 16:27.985
But unfortunately that flexibility has not been extended to,

16:28.205 --> 16:29.825
to traditional knowledge systems.

16:30.085 --> 16:32.385
And so this is really the kind

16:32.385 --> 16:34.825
of relationship intellectual property has

16:35.175 --> 16:36.465
with traditional knowledge.

16:36.565 --> 16:38.065
It is defined by power.

16:38.205 --> 16:41.745
It is defined historically by colonial assumptions

16:41.745 --> 16:44.985
that other people's knowledge production systems other than

16:44.985 --> 16:49.465
the western model does not actually equate to innovation.

16:49.765 --> 16:52.185
So this is a very tense conversation

16:52.525 --> 16:54.905
and the relationship between traditional knowledge

16:55.365 --> 16:57.585
and western intellectual property models.

16:58.205 --> 17:01.905
We have found a very important platform

17:01.975 --> 17:06.615
through this study to prepare us for

17:08.175 --> 17:12.035
the explosive nature of innovation that inevitably

17:12.545 --> 17:14.915
drag those who produce from the prism

17:14.915 --> 17:16.035
of traditional knowledge.

17:16.495 --> 17:18.875
As a lot of issues about data,

17:19.595 --> 17:23.035
agricultural knowledge practices are now defined in terms

17:23.035 --> 17:25.995
of their commercial consequence in relation to

17:26.015 --> 17:27.075
who controls data.

17:27.655 --> 17:30.795
And data is generated formally and informally,

17:31.255 --> 17:33.715
and there is a lot of things happening in the realm

17:33.715 --> 17:35.075
of artificial intelligence.

17:35.455 --> 17:39.795
And inevitably, the coalition of knowledge systems

17:40.625 --> 17:42.835
will make us to begin to redefine

17:43.735 --> 17:46.435
how everyone will benefit from knowledge systems.

17:47.175 --> 17:48.795
The intellectual property

17:48.825 --> 17:53.125
that was engineered in Europe beginning from Venice

17:54.095 --> 17:57.635
is no longer sustainable for a global knowledge system

17:58.225 --> 18:02.155
that is now completely taking every form

18:02.155 --> 18:06.715
of knowledge in its wake through technological conscription.

18:07.535 --> 18:09.795
The, the, the distinction between the formal

18:09.935 --> 18:12.075
and informal is melding away

18:12.075 --> 18:13.635
through artificial intelligence.

18:13.695 --> 18:17.715
So we have as a continent, that is to say Africa,

18:18.335 --> 18:22.675
to continuously begin now to redesign our strategy

18:23.095 --> 18:24.715
to participate in,

18:24.735 --> 18:27.595
in a global knowledge governance framework where

18:27.615 --> 18:29.035
of our knowledge systems

18:29.255 --> 18:32.275
and the values that are integral to those knowledge systems

18:32.785 --> 18:36.395
have to be completely represented in the new knowledge

18:36.395 --> 18:39.315
governance order, particularly that is animated

18:39.455 --> 18:40.875
by different kinds of technologies,

18:41.265 --> 18:44.675
including artificial intelligence and data governance.

"Examining the Role of Africa in the Governance and Recognition of Indigenous Knowledge Systems"

00:00:00 - When you look at the way policies are made, particularly in the governance of knowledge, what we have found over the time is there's a tendency for Africa to always be the defender of indigenous or traditional knowledge at international negotiations, particularly in relation to development, intellectual property and knowledge governance. And, it almost becomes like whenever there is a global, issue or policy making space, Africa will always literally have the patent over the issue of traditional or indigenous knowledge.
00:00:48 - whether we are bureaucrats or academics and whatever sphere of work. And I pulled back to say, so much has been said about African traditional knowledge. And, it is important to pull back now and see to what extent we have actually internalized traditional knowledge as a significant factor endowment for our economic and sociocultural emancipation. So this provides the context and the aim of this study is to really try and understand whether what we do internationally is internalized regionally,
00:01:30 - framework for development and innovation operates right on the African continent. So this is really the background. And this study began to really look into critical literature and institutional governance, mechanisms and framework across Africa and through regional economic, commissions. To, to be able to answer this question, I want to make it clear that the whole idea of defining knowledge systems of a particular set of people as indigenous is actually a colonial creation is defined by power.
00:02:11 - and knowledge system, you are literally saying that there is a knowledge system properly. So-called the rest is indigenous in a matter of ordering others knowledge systems. So this is important to us in, in this context. So when, and this is something we have accepted unwillingly as a pragmatic, usage. Otherwise knowledge is knowledge and is knowledge. But when you say indigenous knowledge systems or traditional knowledge systems, you are literally saying in reference to western knowledge systems
00:02:50 - So this is a knowledge system that is no different from any other knowledge systems. It's designed essentially to capture the knowledge originating from local or traditional non-Western communities. And actually it is as a result of intellectual activity in industrial or traditional context, including so many other issues like know-how skills innovation, practices learning, and this knowledge is embodied in the traditional lifestyles of a community and is contained in different ways through their practices,
00:03:32 - and through their expressions, their spirituality, their arts, their art, their craft, and everything that defines a people and gives you an idea of their worldview, their ideology of sustainability and development. So, therefore what we have seen is that when we talk about, indigenous knowledge systems, we are talking about a systematized way of knowledge production, of social cohesion, of existence, of milestones in, in, in, in social, classification about gender and so many things, dancing, songs, music, art.

"Dynamic Evolution of Traditional Knowledge Systems in African Cultural and Economic Frameworks"

00:04:17 - the essence of how people have defined themselves, how they have lived, how they have interacted with nature. So you see there is a tendency to talk about traditional cultural expressions of folklore. So there we have expressive aspects of knowledge production in dance, in music, in creativity, in art. We also have the environmental component that talks about relationship with genetic resources in agriculture and health and in several ways. So the essence of this is that the, the contour, so the boundaries of traditional knowledge systems is not closed, it is dynamic, it is evolving.
00:04:56 - how a people produce knowledge for their own sustainability as a civilization. So this is really something that no text I know has defined. Some will define it enum, some would define it open-ended. Some would define it in terms of, classifying the expressive part of it, the non expressive part of it, the genetic resources part of it. So it is the complete amalgam of a people's model of knowledge production for their own survival. This is one of the major revelations of this study. the major constitutive instruments of African regional corporation, would start with
00:05:39 - or the treaty establishing the African Union, which was before now the organization of African Unity and of course the African Economic Commission and more recently the African continental free trade area. We also have the charter of African Cultural re Renaissance, the new partnership for African development, the conventional conservation of nature and natural resources. I can go on and on. So what we have found is that this paradigm instruments actually do not put traditional knowledge as a strong pillar of African
00:06:23 - And what has happened is that they begin to really cast a big picture of how, of the vision of African development aspirations, but really do you see them use the word traditional knowledge or indigenous knowledge systems. But it all breaks down to secondary or ary instruments that actually try to begin to put some of those ideals in the basic text, in the basic constitutive instruments, into some degree of operationalization. So what we found is that traditional knowledge, indigenous knowledge, did not find what you call,
00:07:06 - of these constitutive instruments, but they did not completely drop the ball. It begins to boil down to specific cities that when they talk about cultural corporation, talk about sports, talk about exchange of education, they talk about agriculture, they talk about irrigation, they talk about fisheries, they talk about so many other programs that really anate some of these, big picture issues that are captured in the language of these tive instruments. That is then when you begin to see some references, which I could consider not consistently or synergistically
00:07:48 - that there is always inevitable references to African traditional knowledge or indigenous knowledge system through some of these statuary instruments and so on. Regional economic frameworks, probably the ones that give us some degree of tangibility or something we can hold onto to say, okay, they may have actually taught about traditional knowledge. But then there are eight major recognized regional economic frameworks in Africa, beginning with the Southern African development community, the economic community for West African states, the East African community, the Union, Duma Arab,

"Integrating Traditional Knowledge within African Economic Frameworks: Challenges and Perspectives"

00:08:31 - and Southern Africa and ard, which is the community of Sahel Saharan states. We have also the economic community of central African states and the inner governmental authority on development of the eight countries of the Horn of Africa. Now these, these are really major regional economic, instruments that try to, give some vent to regional, festering of, the African Union mandate. what they have done is also to set up a language that speaks about economic solidarity cooperation,
00:09:15 - so many, frameworks for development. And they, they actually also like the constitutive instruments, of, African continental nature, which we spoke about, not long ago. These ones actually also did not really directly speak about traditional knowledge, but because the way they are constituted, they have commissions committees, they have subsidiary and statuary instruments that, ministers of states of these, regional bodies or constitutive countries within this regions tend to really take charge of.
00:09:55 - and the continental level, the regional economic, community or commission frameworks actually also have been able to really reference traditional knowledge through some of their policies, some of their subsidiary instruments and some of the, follow up, ministerial commitments in, in terms of policies. So those are actually still touchy or secondary referred to in even the regional economic. the relationship between traditional knowledge
00:10:36 - of relationship I would prefer to look at from probably three perspectives. One is historical, second is present, and the third will be the potential. Now intellectual property is the western capitalist ideological mechanism for protection of knowledge and for reward to knowledge production. And so it is framed from the neoliberal capitalist economic point of view. Whereof the individual is the center of innovation
00:11:18 - And it is structured within very strict legal prisons. I can give you an example of patents. Something has to be new, novel, inventive in order to get patent. There are check boxes strictly applied, and then there is copyright that talks about fixation of expression and so on and so forth. And of course we have, trademarks and, designs and so many regimes of ip. So when you look at how intellectual property is structured, you could see that it speaks to a specific model of Knowledge production, the formal scientific model
00:12:01 - under the statutory regimes and sometimes under the common law of intellectual property rights. So in this box or in this, in this little space and narrowly construed indigenous knowledge or traditional knowledge that I have defined for you before will find it difficult to fit within intellectual property. Prisms example would be that if I was saying that I have a medicinal plant that is used to cure a particular disease from time immemorial used

"The Tension Between Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property: A Historical and Cultural Analysis"

00:12:40 - And it is something that the community treasures as part of their cultural heritage. And, we may not know from what or how it came into being because it's a, it is a knowledge system passed from generation to generation. But somebody could come and begin to break down that medicinal plant from the point of view of their molecular essence. And I isolate the active substance there and now begin to work in white coat laboratory in order to find a way to structure what we call a patent claim
00:13:24 - of intellectual property or the patent system. Then they get a patent. But that does not naturally happen when you are pro practicing this kind of innovation from indigenous or communion knowledge framework. So the relationship, and I can give you more examples and copyright if I was to sing a folk song and dance it and express it in a communal ceremonial context, and it's passed on generation to generation, it can be poetry that is recited endlessly over time.
00:14:05 - form or in written forms and so on that will be comfortable to be called to, to to to have a copyright claim over it. If somebody comes and fixes it or gets a picture of it or texts and, and begins to put it in a place where it is tangible, they can get a copyright. But the civilization that has been using this song or these ceremonies, could not claim copyright. So intellectual property system and traditional knowledge has a fraught relationship because it's part of the colonial framework that defines a certain knowledge system as traditional,
00:14:47 - and that the origin of it is not known and it is in the public domain. Everybody can feast on it and then get rewarded and abandon those who prefer to create in community and in, so that is a fractured and a fraught and tense relationship. But then this is historically and that has been a problem, but presently there has been a lot of pressure to begin to open up intellectual property to accommodate knowledge production systems outside the strict prison of western scientific
00:15:26 - which the current intellectual property system is designed for. And so this is why traditional knowledge is being discussed in the context of intellectual property rights. And so going forward there are potentials to really begin to pressure the, so-called orthodoxy of the intellectual property system to open it up to new knowledge production systems that are captured in traditional knowledge to broaden it and make it inclusive. And we know that historically intellectual property has been recalibrated over time to respond to changing or changes in technology. For example, there was originally no intellectual property
00:16:10 - but with a boast of technology, somebody can genetically modify a, an animal and claim a patent over it. So we see that's a flexibility, an intellectual property system to evolve with technology. But unfortunately that flexibility has not been extended to, to traditional knowledge systems. And so this is really the kind of relationship intellectual property has with traditional knowledge. It is defined by power. It is defined historically by colonial assumptions that other people's knowledge production systems other than the western model does not actually equate to innovation.

"Reimagining Knowledge Governance in Africa: Bridging Traditional Knowledge and Western Intellectual Property Models in the Era of Innovation"

00:16:52 - and the relationship between traditional knowledge and western intellectual property models. We have found a very important platform through this study to prepare us for the explosive nature of innovation that inevitably drag those who produce from the prism of traditional knowledge. As a lot of issues about data, agricultural knowledge practices are now defined in terms of their commercial consequence in relation to who controls data. And data is generated formally and informally,
00:17:33 - of artificial intelligence. And inevitably, the coalition of knowledge systems will make us to begin to redefine how everyone will benefit from knowledge systems. The intellectual property that was engineered in Europe beginning from Venice is no longer sustainable for a global knowledge system that is now completely taking every form of knowledge in its wake through technological conscription. The, the, the distinction between the formal and informal is melding away
00:18:41 - So we have as a continent, that is to say Africa, to continuously begin now to redesign our strategy to participate in, in a global knowledge governance framework where of our knowledge systems and the values that are integral to those knowledge systems have to be completely represented in the new knowledge governance order, particularly that is animated by different kinds of technologies, including artificial intelligence and data governance.

Faculti AI can make mistakes

Faculti

Popular in Law

Human Rights and Corruption: Problems and Potential of Individualising a Systemic Problem

A statistical approach to law school citation rankings

What is constitutional ideology?

Politics, Identity, and Class Certification on the U.S. Courts of Appeals

The Law of AI for Good

Transforming Restorative Justice for Transitional Settings

A Critical Examination of the African Legal Framework for Indigenous Knowledge

Guide

Platform and Category Pages

Contact Us

FAQs

What is Faculti?

How do you select interviews?

Interview Process

Page Structure

Popular in Law

Guide

Platform and Category Pages

Contact Us

FAQs

What is Faculti?

How do you select interviews?

Interview Process

Accessibility Options

Contrast Adjustment

Text Size Adjustment

Text Spacing Adjustment

Line Height Adjustment

Cursor Size Adjustment

Page Structure Options

Page Structure