Economic Studies of Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge

This book deals with the traditional and indigenous knowledge of the common men and women of India—tribal and Dalit populations, fisher folk, craftsmen, artisans, and leather workers—which includes their agriculture, housing, and irrigation methods; medicinal knowledge; methods for collecting drinking water; and arts and culture. It establishes that the economic significance of such knowledge in the modern world is being utilized in a wide variety of ways. Globally, indigenous knowledge is now recognized as an underutilized resource that can help to reduce poverty and a dormant reserve with considerable commercial potential.

Nirmal Sengupta is the author of numerous books, including Irrigation: Traditional vs. Modern, A New Institutional Theory of Production, and Traditional Water Management Systems: Primitive or Precious?