This thesis studies the learning process between foreign and local knowledge in a community of organic farmers by the name Atitlán Organics in Tzununa, rural Guatemala. Foreign settlers with formal education and contemporary farming experience work alongside indigenous local Guatemalan farmers in this community, which also takes on international volunteer workers. These people of various background and differing intentions cooperate to develop the community and its business of organic food production while learning from each other. The foreigners bring global theories that relate to farming such as permaculture designs and scientific knowledge while the Guatemalans know the local land and how to work with it. This thesis outlines the learning process between these different competencies and presents a nuanced discussion on how these types of knowledge exchange can be beneficial for the people and the community. Diverse competencies can complement each other and enhance collaborative work but limitations can also occur due to difficulties of understanding other socio-cultural contexts, while risks of neo-colonial tendencies and western knowledge hegemony lure in these situations. The discussion in this thesis highlights the importance of mutual consciousness about this process in the community and what that can be done to enhance collaborative learning while avoiding such risks.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-388288 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Blad, Johan |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Uppsatser Kulturgeografiska institutionen |
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