Philosophy of Indigenous Knowledge in Sustainable Development: Epistemological Traditions, Ecological Wisdom, and Global Policy

Abstract

The quest for sustainable development has increasingly drawn scholarly and policy attention toward indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) as reservoirs of ecologically embedded, culturally validated, and philosophically coherent frameworks for human–environment interaction. This article examines the philosophical foundations of indigenous knowledge and interrogates its relevance, applicability, and transformative potential within contemporary sustainable development discourse. Drawing on postcolonial theory, environmental philosophy, and international relations scholarship, the article argues that indigenous knowledge systems are not merely supplementary repositories of local ecological data but constitute autonomous epistemological traditions that challenge the hegemonic assumptions of Western scientific rationalism. Through analysis of African, particularly Nigerian, indigenous philosophical traditions, including the Ubuntu ethic of communal interdependence and the Igbo concept of Odinala as an environmental covenant, the article demonstrates how indigenous ontologies encode principles of intergenerational stewardship, ecological reciprocity, and communal governance that are functionally consistent with, and in important respects superior to, dominant frameworks of sustainable development such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The article further interrogates the structural barriers to integrating indigenous knowledge into formal development policy, including epistemic injustice, institutional marginalisation, and the commodification of traditional ecological knowledge, and advances a framework for genuine epistemic pluralism in international development practice.