Ethics of research from indigenous thinking: collective rights and the principle of comunalidad

Abstract

In the last few decades, scientific research with indigenous population has been more frequent in different fields: genetics, linguistics, legal, and ethnographic studies, research related to medicinal plants, their rites, and traditions, among others. For this reason it is important to know regulatory and ethical aspects for their protection, but also to assume these research from their world view and epistemologies. These are essentially relational, with values such as plurality, diversity, reciprocity, complementarity and sharing (“compartencia”). All of these values are part of the commonality principle (comunalidad), which reaffirms the commitment to the collective rights of indigenous population, beyond the individual experiences of Human Rights. This different approach to research ethics is the objective of this article, as a field yet to explore.