Inspired by Harold Conklin

Harold C. Conklin (1926-2016) is without doubt one of the key figures in ethnobotany and environmental anthropology. His work is admired for, among other qualities, its precision and its level of « fine description ». In particular, his pioneering studies on shifting cultivation have changed the gen...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gerard A. Persoon, Jan van der Ploeg, Merlijn van Weerd
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Laboratoire Éco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie 2021-12-01
Series:Revue d'ethnoécologie
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/ethnoecologie/8059
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832095899697807360
author Gerard A. Persoon
Jan van der Ploeg
Merlijn van Weerd
author_facet Gerard A. Persoon
Jan van der Ploeg
Merlijn van Weerd
author_sort Gerard A. Persoon
collection DOAJ
description Harold C. Conklin (1926-2016) is without doubt one of the key figures in ethnobotany and environmental anthropology. His work is admired for, among other qualities, its precision and its level of « fine description ». In particular, his pioneering studies on shifting cultivation have changed the general perspective on this way of land use. His Ethnographic Atlas of Ifugao (1980) is still a landmark of ethnographic fieldwork, combining a wide range of methods, including sophisticated cartography. The focus of this atlas was on the culture of Ifugao farmers in their home area in the Cordillera Mountains on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. In recent decades, thousands of Ifugao farmers have left their home area and migrated eastwards to the Sierra Madre Mountains in the northeastern part of Luzon, across Cagayan Valley. They have done so for various reasons but land shortage is certainly one of them. In the foothills of the Sierra Madre, accessible arable land became available after large-scale commercial logging operations. In this article we will draw attention to the relevance of Conklin’s work before describing how the Ifugao farmers, with their extensive knowledge and experience, have been able to turn this new area into a highly productive environment, combining wet rice fields with upland agriculture. The research is based on fieldwork that was done over several years with Filipino, Dutch and other international students in the context of a long-standing cooperation project between Isabela State University in the Philippines and Leiden University (Netherlands).
format Article
id doaj-art-7ffe4438fabf46548bc059f71248b9cd
institution Kabale University
issn 2267-2419
language English
publishDate 2021-12-01
publisher Laboratoire Éco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie
record_format Article
series Revue d'ethnoécologie
spelling doaj-art-7ffe4438fabf46548bc059f71248b9cd2025-02-05T16:25:07ZengLaboratoire Éco-anthropologie et EthnobiologieRevue d'ethnoécologie2267-24192021-12-012010.4000/ethnoecologie.8059Inspired by Harold ConklinGerard A. PersoonJan van der PloegMerlijn van WeerdHarold C. Conklin (1926-2016) is without doubt one of the key figures in ethnobotany and environmental anthropology. His work is admired for, among other qualities, its precision and its level of « fine description ». In particular, his pioneering studies on shifting cultivation have changed the general perspective on this way of land use. His Ethnographic Atlas of Ifugao (1980) is still a landmark of ethnographic fieldwork, combining a wide range of methods, including sophisticated cartography. The focus of this atlas was on the culture of Ifugao farmers in their home area in the Cordillera Mountains on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. In recent decades, thousands of Ifugao farmers have left their home area and migrated eastwards to the Sierra Madre Mountains in the northeastern part of Luzon, across Cagayan Valley. They have done so for various reasons but land shortage is certainly one of them. In the foothills of the Sierra Madre, accessible arable land became available after large-scale commercial logging operations. In this article we will draw attention to the relevance of Conklin’s work before describing how the Ifugao farmers, with their extensive knowledge and experience, have been able to turn this new area into a highly productive environment, combining wet rice fields with upland agriculture. The research is based on fieldwork that was done over several years with Filipino, Dutch and other international students in the context of a long-standing cooperation project between Isabela State University in the Philippines and Leiden University (Netherlands).https://journals.openedition.org/ethnoecologie/8059Harold C. Conklinshifting cultivationIfugao rice terracesIfugao farmersThe PhilippinesSierra Madre Mountains
spellingShingle Gerard A. Persoon
Jan van der Ploeg
Merlijn van Weerd
Inspired by Harold Conklin
Revue d'ethnoécologie
Harold C. Conklin
shifting cultivation
Ifugao rice terraces
Ifugao farmers
The Philippines
Sierra Madre Mountains
title Inspired by Harold Conklin
title_full Inspired by Harold Conklin
title_fullStr Inspired by Harold Conklin
title_full_unstemmed Inspired by Harold Conklin
title_short Inspired by Harold Conklin
title_sort inspired by harold conklin
topic Harold C. Conklin
shifting cultivation
Ifugao rice terraces
Ifugao farmers
The Philippines
Sierra Madre Mountains
url https://journals.openedition.org/ethnoecologie/8059
work_keys_str_mv AT gerardapersoon inspiredbyharoldconklin
AT janvanderploeg inspiredbyharoldconklin
AT merlijnvanweerd inspiredbyharoldconklin