Appropriation of Traditional Knowledge in the Base of the Pyramid

Abstract

The Base of the Pyramid theory was first articulated in 2002. The theory argues that poverty could be alleviated and profits could be made if multinationals marketed and sold cheap and high-quality products and services to the world’s underserved poor. The theory developed into ‘BoP 2.0’, which argues that MNEs can work together with the poor towards creating poverty-relieving and profit-generating solutions for the BoP markets through a process of social embeddedness. This article theorizes that when multinationals socially embed themselves in the BoP through the process outlined in BoP 2.0, there is an increased likelihood that they will knowingly or unwittingly appropriate traditional knowledge. It is argued that this leads to an increased likelihood of displacement of traditional knowledge, thus leading to a social loss in the BoP community.