Making Sense of Diversity of Foragers

Abstract

If foraging is considered only as a practice of engaging with wild products, then all foragers might look the same. However, if diverse knowledge claims, diverse motivations, and diverse uses of wild products are considered, then the people behind the practice start to appear very different. This chapter engages with this diversity by reflecting on my attempts to introduce a classification of foragers that would allow me to structure this diversity. To do this, the chapter raises two questions: (1) What are the categories that can be used to classify foragers? (2) What can we learn from discussing various possible classifications – first of all about foraging and secondly about ways in which scientists can work with the unknown and invisible differences within target groups. The chapter answers these questions by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the forager classifications I have tried to apply to my work with foragers.