The globalization of Indigenous knowledge through biopiracy leads to neo-colonialism
Kenneth Tupper 2009 (Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health, PHD from University of British Columbia, MA and BA from Simon Fraser University) “Ayahuasca healing beyond the Amazon: the globalization of a traditional indigenous practice” [Global Networks Journal Vol. 9 Iss 1] 1471-0374//LC
Some critics regard globalization and its political, economic and cultural I implications as examples of neo-colonialism. For example, the inherent Euro-centrism in discourses of modernity and globalization are cited as evidence of their continued movement towards socio-political and epistemological hegemony (Lander 2002; Quijano 2000). In particular, there is concern over globalization's homogenizing tendencies in the cultural arena. The imperatives of the flow of global capital are seen as causally linked to the spread of modern Euroamerican ideology and culture. Indeed, the process of globalisation began in the West and has mainly fostered the expansion of Western ideas, values, lifestyles and technology' (Smith et al. 2000: 2). By this understanding, culture and ideology are seen as flowing from 'west' to 'rest', an insidious foisting of Mickey Mouse, Coca-Cola, and MTV - and an implicit neoliberal agenda - on traditional indigenous and other non-Western cultures (Barber 1995; Massey 1995; Rodrik 1997). Given the interrelationship between biological, linguistic and cultural diversity - and the threats posed to these by the seemingly ineluctable forces of globalization - such concern may be well-founded (Maffi 2001).