The appropriation of traditional knowledge in Mexico: a semiotic-pragmatic perspective

Abstract

Knowledge of traditional medicine in Mexico is a distinctive element of Mexican cultural diversity. Due to its long existence and conventionality, it is part of the symbols that make up the cultures that have developed and used it from generation to generation. However, today it is being legally appropriated by agents who seek to profit from such knowledge, and from other elements of indigenous cultures. This appropriation is possible thanks to the process of translation and transmutation of symbols and changes of beliefs through the abductive method, in accordance with the semiotic-pragmatic proposal of Charles Peirce. In this article we argue that symbolic appropriation underlies such economic-political appropriation of traditional knowledge, made by non-indigenous agents.