The Ethno Science Approach and its View of the Role of Marriage in a Society - Essay Example

? The Ethno Science Approach and its View of the Role of Marriage in a Society Ethno science is the integration of various societal practices, beliefs, and behaviors in developing a scientific understanding. Ethno science is based on the fact that every society is comprised of a specific indigenous people who have varied and diverse opinions on several issues of nature (Dasgupta & Sarkar, 2005). An ethno scientist explores this to come up with an inclusive opinion on the various schools of thoughts held by the specific societies. They consider the organization of the society regarding several issues, for instance, their structural classification of plants and their uses in relation to the specific societies (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2009). Ethno science is dependent on nature as it requires the indigenous people in order to understand their relationships with their environment. Actually, ethno science stems from the raw knowledge that certain people have on nature in view of their natural environment (Kaplan, 2007). Every ethno scientist would be interested in understanding the people’s knowledge on ethno-botany, ethno-zoology, and ethno-medicine. This information is conceptualized by an ethno scientist to come up with the final finding on societal knowledge concerning nature around them (Kottak, 2008). With the view that different societies have different knowledge with reference to nature and environment, it is extremely important for an ethno scientist to explore the effect of marriage to specific natural knowledge in the society. Marriage in most societies involves transfer of a wife from her indigenous home to a new environment. Interestingly enough, when it happens, different cultures collide or merge and provide the opportunity for the adoption of new understanding of the environment (Moore, 1998). This will be in terms of the societal exploration and exploitation of nature in everyday life; for example, the classification of plants for nutritional, medicinal, and aesthetic purposes. To an ethno scientist, marriage in the society provides a situation in which a blend of natural knowledge will arise through incorporation of the different experiences and knowledge of the two or more people who have been raised in different environment endowed with different plant, animals and other natural features influencing people’s beliefs and knowledge (Percival, 1966). An ethno scientist will conclude that the marriage in the society can help reorganize these peculiar societal knowledge and create a new set of beliefs and practices. The different systems of knowledge coming together necessitate erosion and assertion of new concepts. Since there are many concepts studied by ethno science, the marriage in the society will actually influence some of them (Sanga & Ortalli, 2003). In ethno botany, which involves the societal beliefs on the use of plants and their different roles in the improvement of human life, marriage will ensure that either one of the parties involved gets to learn more about the use of a plant or gets to learn about a totally new plant’s use (Dasgupta & Sarkar, 2005). For instance, various communities use plants in doing several things; this knowledge cannot be known by others, unless there is a very intimate association of two people who come from different societies, possibly by means of marriage. Different communities have used plants for several reasons; they have been used as a cure for snake’s venom, in soaring milk, as well as dyes and cosmetics (Percival, 1966). An ethno scientist will also view marriage in the society as an accelerating factor for environmental exploitation. There is a very close relation between environmental usage and ethno science. Human beings are in constant use of the environment and disturb natural balance in satisfying their needs. In the course of doing this, there can be environmental concerns regarding exploitation; it can lead to the extinction of some plants and animals species (Percival, 1966). Regarding the marriage in the society, an ethno scientist will hypothesis on further environmental damage and the resources diminishing with time, as there will be more knowledge about the use of natural resources to satisfy human needs (Dasgupta & Sarkar, 2005). An ethno scientist will view marriage as a possible way of disseminating knowledge based on the societal beliefs and knowledge systems. In every society they symbolize various things and signify different meanings (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2009). An ethno scientist understands that in every society there are different beliefs regarding different features of the environment, thus, the diversity is common among different communities or societies that are independent. Apart from the ethno botany, there are other sections of ethno science that will be of interest to an ethno scientist's research (Kottak, 2008). Ethno-astronomy involves the study of how different communities perceive the phenomenon in relation to the sky. This is be of great concern to an ethno scientist, because in case of marriage between two people from different societies, an integration of different beliefs will occur, and this will substantially alter the current beliefs and knowledge (Moore, 1998). Various communities used the sky to denote different phenomenon; some of the communities observed the pattern of the stars to construe the characteristics of the would-be harvest, while others used the stars to denote presence or absence of rain and so forth. Marriage will mean that two societies will blend their knowledge about the sky and enhance common perception (Percival, 1966). Marriage in essence can lead to a paradigm shift in the society with regard to the socio-economic practices. This, in its turn, can lead to the growth or decline in the population of a society due to the integration of new ideas and beliefs into the existing ones (Sanga & Ortalli, 2003). Ethno science is thus believed to be an instrument of revealing radical changes in the way the society will be relating to the nature that surrounds it. Ethno science can change the perception of the society in a number of ways (Percival, 1966). Ethno science has played the all-important role of bringing the various cultural perceptions in the limelight. In compiling this knowledge, the ethnographer does not assume anything subjective; the information has to come entirely from the indigenous people (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2009). An ethno scientist considers marriage a critical source of giving new direction of knowledge, as it re-organizes the existing knowledge by changing the original version previously held by the society (Dasgupta & Sarkar, 2005). Finally, ethno science has helped anthropologist to understand the organization of the society in relation to the surrounding nature. Just like in the botanical technique, where taxonomy is used to classify the plants in a structured order, so does the ethno science about the way a community is structured. It also explains the way people relate to nature and the eventual contribution of the native knowledge to the contemporary knowledge in different societies (Sanga & Ortalli, 2003). Reference List Dasgupta, S., & Sarkar, A. (2005). Reflection of Ethno-Science: Study on the Abujh Maria. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. Ferraro, G. P., & Andreatta, S. (2009). Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Kaplan, D. (2007). Anthropological Theory. Chicago: Transaction Publishers. Kottak, C. P. (2008). Cultural Anthropology. McGraw-Hill. Moore, A. (1998). Cultural Anthropology: The Field Study of Human Beings. California: Rowman & Littlefield. Percival, K. (1966). Ethnoscience: a symposium presented at the 1966 Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society. New York: Wiley and Sons. Sanga, G., & Ortalli, G. (2003). Nature knowledge: Ethnoscience, Cognition, and Utility. Berghahn Books. Read More