Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights in Latin America: Towards a Decolonial Approach

This article analyses the underlying ideological dimension of the constitutional reforms in Latin America, with a detailed look at the contested process of Traditional Knowledge (TK) protection and its legal manifestations. Drawing on decolonial theory and textual analysis of constitutions of some Latin American countries (specifically, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia), together with case studies and court cases, it demonstrates how Latin American constitutions frame TK protection and how even though some normative assumptions have changed, others remain entrenched. The article suggests that constitutional reforms recognising Indigenous rights to their TK is not enough, while the experiences of Indigenous peoples and their worldviews remain subordinated to colonial logics.