A vindication of ethnobotany: Between social and natural science

Abstract

Ethnobotany, a discipline located at the intersection between natural science and social science, is sometimes misunderstood by researchers from one field or the other. In this article we will discuss the positive and negative aspects of interdisciplinarity regarding this subject, and we will argue its status as science from different points of view. Our conclusion is that ethnobotanical inquiry – as any other ethnobiological inquiry – falls within the scientific field and is currently fairly consolidated, active and productive. In addition, ethnobotany is a citizen science: the participation of the population is essential for research, which must be communicated to the academia, but also to the common citizen

Keywords

• ethnobiology
• ethnobotany
• citizen science
• natural science
• social science
• multidisciplinarity