Re-encountering Ward Churchill

The interview below was originally published in the January 31-February 2, 2014, edition of CounterPunch. It is reproduced here in part because of the close attention we paid to the persecution of Ward Churchill, and in continuation of our support for his cause. The case, involving as it did the politicization of the university, unfortunately […]

Read More…

Bradley Manning and the Meaning of Bravery

As anticipated as a conviction was, today’s news of the federal state winning convictions against Bradley Manning on all counts except the excessive, absurd, and unjustifiable charge of “aiding the enemy,” is still very sad news. For Bradley Manning, the consequences could still be extreme, with some estimating that he could face a maximum total […]

Read More…

Slouching Towards Washington

Does the U.S. have “friends and allies”? Or does the world merely consist of targets and tools? As we learned today the U.S. National Security Agency has been spying on a series of buildings and offices of the European Union, spying on Internet communications, phone calls and more. NATO headquarters has been used to spy […]

Read More…

Anthropologists for Justice and Peace (AJP)

It is with great pleasure that, as a member of the steering committee, I announce the formation of ANTHROPOLOGISTS for JUSTICE and PEACE (AJP), a new grouping of Canadian anthropologists, and a partner of the U.S.-based Network of Concerned Anthropologists (NCA), the Fredericton Peace Coalition, the Centre de ressources sur la non-violence (CRNV), the Collectif […]

Read More…

Where are the Pueblo Clowns?

Dedicated to my colleague and comrade, John Stanton, and to myself. “Isn’t it rich? Are we a pair?” This comes from David H. Price, “Anthropologists as Spies,” The Nation, November 2, 2000: Archeologist Joe Watkins, chairman of the ethics committee, believes that if an anthropologist were caught spying today, “the AAA would not do anything […]

Read More…

Beloved Discordia

Discordia Ben Addelman, Samir Mallal, 2004, 68 min 40 s On September 9, 2002, a scheduled appearance by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked heated debate at Montreal’s Concordia University. By the end of the day, the “Concordia riot” has made international news, from CNN to Al-Jazeera. This film documents the fallout from that […]

Read More…

Does Wade Davis Do Gaza?

A former student was kind enough to draw my attention to the following video, a very interesting TED talk by anthropologist Wade Davis, a National Geographic “Explorer-in-Residence”: I have a lot of respect for Wade Davis and I have long been an admirer of his work on zombification in Haiti, which he calls the “ethnobiology” […]

Read More…

“The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual”: New Book on Anthropology, Militarization, and the Human Terrain System

I am very happy to report that the second of three new volumes about the human terrain system to be published this year has just been released for pre-order. It is The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual, by the Network of Concerned Anthropologists. It features contributions by Catherine Besteman, Andrew Bickford, Greg Feldman, Roberto J. González, Hugh Gusterson, […]

Read More…

Attacking Ward Churchill…By Losing Your Marbles?

In connection with my post for yesterday, “Misunderstanding and Misrepresenting the Charges Against Ward Churchill,” I was delighted to get extra ammunition and free advertising from what appears to be a smear blog whose primary obsession is Ward Churchill, and whose intended aim  seems to be the ceaseless production of libel and slander while sleeplessly […]

Read More…