In the knowledge and practice crossroad: anthropological reviews about estrangement and alterity within Agroecology

Abstract

This paper aims at presenting anthropological elements that can contribute to the ongoing process of agroecology construction as an intersection field for different knowledge and practices. The focus of attention is the relationship between academic knowledge and practice agents, and ethnically-represented local knowledge and practice agents. Therefore, we intend to (1) discuss the theoretical incursion of agroecology in its cultural diversity, as well as its practical consequences; (2) analyze main situations of estrangement between technicians/scientists and farming families; and (3) present anthropological conceptual elements, such as "culture", "alterity", and "symmetry", that may contribute both to the overcoming of these estrangement situations, and for relationships of mutual learning among the subjects that are immersed in agroecological contexts.