GSSC Seminar Series: Indigenous Peoples' Knowledge Systems as a Resilience Mechanism against Climate Change: An Interdisciplinary Perspective from the South

The lecture proposes to examine the pivotal role of Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge systems as a resilience mechanism against climate change, approached through an interdisciplinary framework that draws on political science, law, political economy, cultural studies, and Indigenous environmental humanities.

Indigenous epistemologies and ontological systems have for thousands of years provided communities with adaptive strategies for living sustainably within their environments, and these systems offer very important insights for addressing the climate crisis. By analyzing how Indigenous environmental practices intersect with dominant political structures, legal frameworks, and economic systems, the lecture will seek to demonstrate the infinite power/utility of Indigenous Cosmovisions in resisting climate change’s disproportionate effects on vulnerable communities in the Global South generally. 

It will explore the myriad of ways in which Indigenous Peoples’ ontological systems, everyday lives, governance models, relationships, futures, and cultural values challenge conventional narratives of resource management and the whole concept of development. Furthermore, the lecture will investigate how Indigenous environmental humanities—through storytelling, oral traditions, and spiritual practices—offer highly complex alternative understandings of human-environment relations, offering transformative solutions to contemporary climate challenges. 

This interdisciplinary approach underscores the urgent need for a rights-based framework that respects Indigenous Peoples’ ingenuity and integrates their knowledge into global climate policies and legal instruments. Ultimately, the lecture advocates for the co-production of knowledge between Indigenous communities and policy institutions, aiming for a more just, equitable, and sustainable future in the face of escalating environmental crises.