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Universities as the Gatekeepers of the Intellectual Property of Indigenous People's Medical Knowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Chris Kavelin
Chris Kavelin*
Affiliation:
Warawara Department of Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, 2109, Australia
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Abstract

This paper will explore the role of universities as one of the most important gatekeepers that facilitate the appropriation of Indigenous medical knowledge (IMK) from Indigenous communities to transnational pharmaceutical corporations. The first section will deconstruct the “denial of dependency” upon IMK. Using case studies, the critique will demonstrate a complex mystification of Indigenous knowledge and labour, and a de-identification of Indigenous people and nature as the source of the medicines appropriated. The last section will analyse the law and policy context of the past 20 years that is responsible for creating a process of academic capitalism that has strengthened this phenomenon.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 37 , supplement S1: Indigenous Studies - Indigenous Knowledge: Navigating the Interface , 2008 , pp. 34 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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