Introduction: A review of the state of the art of ethnobiology in Argentina and related latin american countries

Abstract

Ethnobiology emerges as a reference approach for the research on the nature-culture relationship, from its development and constitution as a field of study, although its approach has changed over time and according to the context of application. In Latin America in general and in Argentina in particular, ethnobiology as a discipline/interdiscipline is relatively recent, as a result of different paths taken by the working groups, often linked to the institutions that housed them. This book is the result of the discussions held in the 3rd Argentinian Conference of Ethnobiology and Society, developed virtually in November 2021, under the slogan “Nature/s under construction: at the confluence of territories, actors and disciplines.” Contributions in this volume explore the central ethnobiological topic that is biocultural diversity both in the past and in the present and the methodological strategies necessary for its understanding, expecting to transcend the nature/culture dichotomy that has soaked both the common sense and the disciplinary developments reaching the supposed sharp separation of social and natural sciences. As well, they explore theoretical and practical valorization tools that highlight the inextricable relationship between communities and environments in the construction of the inhabited landscape and local identity.