ICREA and Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2013 Jul 24;9:53. doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-9-53.
The idea that knowledge flows through social networks is implicit in research on traditional knowledge, but researchers have paid scant attention to the role of social networks in shaping its distribution. We bridge those two bodies of research and investigate a) the structure of network of exchange of plant propagation material (germplasm) and b) the relation between a person's centrality in such network and his/her agroecological knowledge.
We study 10 networks of germplasm exchange (n = 363) in mountain regions of the Iberian Peninsula. Data were collected through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and a survey.
The networks display some structural characteristics (i.e., decentralization, presence of external actors) that could enhance the flow of knowledge and germplasm but also some characteristics that do not favor such flow (i.e., low density and fragmentation). We also find that a measure that captures the number of contacts of an individual in the germplasm exchange network is associated with the person's agroecological knowledge.
Our findings highlight the importance of social relations in the construction of traditional knowledge.
社会网络中知识流动的观点隐含在传统知识研究中，但研究人员很少关注社会网络在塑造其分布方面的作用。我们弥合了这两个研究领域的差距，调查了 a）植物繁殖材料（种质）交换网络的结构，以及 b）一个人在该网络中的中心地位与其农业生态知识之间的关系。
我们研究了伊比利亚半岛山区的 10 个种质交换网络（n=363）。通过参与观察、半结构化访谈和调查收集数据。
网络显示出一些结构特征（即去中心化、外部参与者的存在），这些特征可以促进知识和种质的流动，但也存在一些不利于这种流动的特征（即密度低和碎片化）。我们还发现，一个捕捉个体在种质交换网络中接触数量的指标与该人的农业生态知识相关。
我们的研究结果强调了社会关系在传统知识构建中的重要性。
