Traditional knowledge

from legislative abstraction to existential concreteness in Alto Solimões (AM)

Abstract

The objective of this research was to analyze the characteristics of the concept of traditional knowledge, given the social dynamics of the original peoples of the Alto Solimões mesoregion of the state of Amazonas, identifying formal and informal traders, indigenous organizations and public bodies operating in the Amazonian cities of Tabatinga and Benjamin Constant and verifying the existence, interest and protection of this knowledge. The methodology used was the case study method, whose unit of analysis was national and international legislation, including international agencies, which regulate the protection of traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, with the subunits of analysis being formal and informal traders, indigenous organizations and public bodies in the Amazonian cities of Tabatinga and Benjamin Constant; As for the means, the following sources of evidence were used: bibliographic, documentary, archive records, direct observations, field diary and interviews with a prior script; as for the purposes, it was quantitative and qualitative; regarding ethical procedures, approval No. 6,197,459 CONEP was obtained, on July 24, 2023, to work with the Ticuna and Kokama indigenous ethnicities; As for the theoretical foundation, the elements for a sociology of the legal field by Bourdieu (2005) and the systemic approach by Morin (2002) were used. It is concluded that the social dynamics of the way of (re)production of traditional knowledge of the original peoples of the Alto Solimões (AM) mesoregion is much more complex than what international agencies and national legislation can predict, insofar as its elements are interpreted by different rationality. Therefore, intellectual property is not the appropriate mechanism to protect associated traditional knowledge, investing in internal control as a more effective protection solution.