Incorporating indigenous epistemologies into the construction of alternative strategies to globalization to promote sustainable regional resource management: The struggle for local autonomy in a multiethnic society ♦ David Barkin Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana – Xochimilco Mexico City, MEXICO * People develop in direct consonance with their environments and the natural pressures emanating from the ecosystems of which they are a part. This ‘animistic’ formulation of society finds a complex intertwining of human society and culture that contrasts sharply with the Judeo- Christian traditions that tell of a world in which man was given dominion over the beasts, or, to relate to the images evoked by the ancient epic Tale of Gilgamesh, man was embroiled in the primordial struggle between the kingly civilization and the forests, the source of all evil and brutishness. 1 This struggle continues even more ferociously in our day, as “civilized” society imposes its desires on subjected peoples around the globe. Although these demands are no longer limited to the taming of the primeval forests and its primitive peoples, many still cherish the idea that technology can harness nature for the benefit of those who are knowledgeable enough to master the planetary forces that have historically limited the advance of humankind. This catechism of social control over nature dominates present-day discussions of the role of science and ♦ Prepared for presentation at the Workshop on Ethics and Development: The Capability Approach in Practice, Michigan State Univeristy, April 13, 2005 * With the collaboration of: Dr Mario Alvizouri, Research Director, Hospital Civil Miguel Silva, Morelia, Michoacan; Prof. Ma de Lourdes Baron León, Centro Regional de Occidente - Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Morelia, Michoacán; Ing. Carlos A Paillés Bouchez, Director, Centro de Soporte Ecológico Bahias de Huatulco, Costa de Oaxaca; Prof. Ma Evelinda Santiago Jiménez, Deputy Director, Instituto Tecnologico de Puebla. To contact the authors, please write: barkin@correo.xoc.uam.mx 1 See Sinclair; Andrew. 1991. The Naked Savage, London: Sinclair-Stevenson.