Advanced International Journal for Research

E-ISSN: 3048-7641   •   Impact Factor: 9.11

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Volume 7 Issue 2
March-April 2026

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Governing Tradition in the Digital Age: Traditional Knowledge Repositories and Geographical Indications in Kerala

Author(s) Dr. Basil B Mathew
Country India
Abstract The digitization of traditional knowledge (TK) and the institutionalization of Geographical Indications (GIs) have become central components of India’s contemporary intellectual property governance. These mechanisms are officially framed as instruments for safeguarding indigenous heritage, preventing biopiracy, and promoting rural development. Yet their socio-political consequences remain insufficiently examined. This article investigates the political economy of digital TK repositories and GI governance in Kerala, focusing on how legal infrastructures and digital platforms reshape power relations between communities, state institutions, and market intermediaries. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, document analysis, and institutional mapping, the study demonstrates that while digitization enhances legal visibility, it simultaneously translates embodied knowledge into bureaucratic categories that marginalize local epistemologies. Likewise, GI registration often generates uneven economic outcomes, privileging legal and commercial intermediaries over primary knowledge holders. Employing an interdisciplinary framework combining political economy, science and technology studies, and epistemic justice, the article conceptualizes TK repositories and GI regimes as socio-technical systems embedded within postcolonial governance structures. The findings reveal three interlinked dynamics: the commodification of heritage through legal formalization, intermediary capture within GI value chains, and persistent epistemic asymmetries in digital knowledge infrastructures. The article concludes by proposing community centered metadata governance, participatory GI institutions, and legally enforceable benefit-sharing mechanisms as pathways toward more equitable knowledge protection. By situating Kerala as a representative Global South case, the study contributes to broader debates on intellectual property, development, and epistemic justice in the digital age.
Keywords Traditional Knowledge, Digital Repositories, Kerala Geographical Indications, Heritage Governance, Kerala Traditional knowledge Digital Library
Published In Volume 7, Issue 2, March-April 2026
Published On 2026-03-05
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E-ISSN 3048-7641
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