Bioprospecting the African Renaissance: The new value of muthi in South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorReihling, Hanspeter CWen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-28T07:01:56Z
dc.date.available2015-10-28T07:01:56Z
dc.date.issued2008en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis article gives an overview of anthropological research on bioprospecting in general and of available literature related to bioprospecting particularly in South Africa. It points out how new insights on value regimes concerning plant-based medicines may be gained through further research and is meant to contribute to a critical discussion about the ethics of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). In South Africa, traditional healers, plant gatherers, petty traders, researchers and private investors are assembled around the issues of standardization and commercialization of knowledge about plants. This coincides with a nation-building project which promotes the revitalization of local knowledge within the so called African Renaissance. A social science analysis of the transformation of so called Traditional Medicine (TM) may shed light onto this renaissance by tracing social arenas in which different regimes of value are brought into conflict. When medicinal plants turn into assets in a national and global economy, they seem to be manipulated and transformed in relation to their capacity to promote health, their market value, and their potential to construct new ethics of development. In this context, the translation of socially and culturally situated local knowledge about muthi into global pharmaceuticals creates new forms of agency as well as new power differentials between the different actors involved.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationReihling, H. C. (2008). Bioprospecting the African Renaissance: The new value of muthi in South Africa. <i>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14459en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationReihling, Hanspeter CW "Bioprospecting the African Renaissance: The new value of muthi in South Africa." <i>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine</i> (2008) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14459en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationReihling, H. C. (2008). Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 4, 9.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Reihling, Hanspeter CW AB - This article gives an overview of anthropological research on bioprospecting in general and of available literature related to bioprospecting particularly in South Africa. It points out how new insights on value regimes concerning plant-based medicines may be gained through further research and is meant to contribute to a critical discussion about the ethics of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). In South Africa, traditional healers, plant gatherers, petty traders, researchers and private investors are assembled around the issues of standardization and commercialization of knowledge about plants. This coincides with a nation-building project which promotes the revitalization of local knowledge within the so called African Renaissance. A social science analysis of the transformation of so called Traditional Medicine (TM) may shed light onto this renaissance by tracing social arenas in which different regimes of value are brought into conflict. When medicinal plants turn into assets in a national and global economy, they seem to be manipulated and transformed in relation to their capacity to promote health, their market value, and their potential to construct new ethics of development. In this context, the translation of socially and culturally situated local knowledge about muthi into global pharmaceuticals creates new forms of agency as well as new power differentials between the different actors involved. DA - 2008 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/1746-4269-4-9 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2008 T1 - Bioprospecting the African Renaissance: The new value of muthi in South Africa TI - Bioprospecting the African Renaissance: The new value of muthi in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14459 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14459
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-4-9
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationReihling HC. Bioprospecting the African Renaissance: The new value of muthi in South Africa. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 2008; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14459.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherBioMed Central Ltden_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentGender Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licenseen_ZA
dc.rights.holder2008 Reihling; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.en_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0en_ZA
dc.sourceJournal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicineen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.ethnobiomed.com/en_ZA
dc.titleBioprospecting the African Renaissance: The new value of muthi in South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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