ISSN 2562-9948
Critiques of world capitalism; critiques of anthropology’s multi-layered interpenetrations with colonialism
“The United States will continue to be a friend and partner to Egypt. We stand ready to provide whatever assistance is necessary and asked for to pursue a credible transition to a democracy.” —Barack Obama, speech on Friday, 11 February 2011, on the resignation of Hosni Mubarak Finally, Mubarak is out. But the U.S. is […]
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“I recognize that this two year project, which overtly maps rural communities, trade connections and key local stakeholders with pastoralists around Hargesisa and Berbera, could be used as a resource for building Human Terrain Maps of this critical region of the Horn of Africa. We would be happy to do this in partnerships with [you]… […]
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By JOHN ALLISON The attack on Guernica by Nazi Condor Legion fighters and bombers in full coordination with and bombing instructions from Spain’s Nationalist dictator, Generalissimo Franco, was carried out on April 26, 1937, 36 hours after my birth on the west coast of North America. This was the first major experiment in modern industrial […]
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I was getting really upset that every time I went on a show, all you would see is “Crisis in Cairo,” “Unrest in Egypt.” And they were totally missing the historical significance of what was happening. My country, you know, my people, these incredibly courageous people in Egypt, were standing up to a tyrant of […]
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“The challenge for anthropologists is to discover without killing.” “With notebooks and pens we will end suicide bombings and gore. Sensitivity to backward culture will help us to control the horror. They’ll learn love for American freedom through stories they’ll come to adore.” “Anthropology will help to explain the people we wish to contain. We’ll […]
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On 20 January 2009, this is what an instrument of American pacification stated on his entry into office: To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to […]
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There is Representative Gabrielle Giffords, in photos on this page, enjoying the fruit of shock and awe, definitely a representative. Of what? That’s one question. What are not the questions worth any/further debate are whether or not Sarah Palin may have inspired or encouraged the shooting in Tucson on 08 January–the answer, plainly, is no–or […]
Read More…If you were asked which regime is described by the following actions and characteristics, what would you answer? A regime that produces a death list of citizens abroad to be executed by its secret intelligence service, without arrest, without trial by a jury. A regime that conducts surveillance at home and then uses that information […]
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[In connection with this article, please see the associated file uploads: COMISAF ppt or COMISAF pdf; FET pptx or FET pdf; ISAF Engagement with Females PDF; and the previous post: “Recommended ISAF Guidance for Female Engagement Teams“] “In the time of Xerxes, it is documented that the King took advice from his Queen which significantly […]
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[The following consists of the speaking notes for a presentation delivered by Major Maria Vedder of the U.S. Army’s Human Terrain System, from 23 February 2010, as a “strategic intelligence update.” The original file can be accessed here as a PPT file and here as a PDF.] SPEAKING NOTES: OPTION 1 Good Morning Sir, It’s […]
Read More…A few months back, Jamil Hanifi and I coauthored a widely circulated critique of a slanderous piece of war propaganda put out by “journalist” Joel Brinkley, who relied in part on Anna Maria Cardinalli, a “social scientist” with the U.S. Army’s Human Terrain System (see “The ‘Dirty Secrets’ that Purify a Dirty War: A Colonial […]
Read More…An excellent little video that neatly summarizes, in the appropriately burlesque fashion, the situation of unqualified anthropologists who join the Human Terrain System, and the desperate and deceitful nature of the sales pitch that they get from recruiters. Just my overblown misinterpretation? Not really, now that Col. Steve Fondacaro, former head of HTS, is corroborating so […]
Read More…[This is the second in a series of three articles I am writing about Wikileaks. The first was “The Wikileaks Revolution” that led to a parallel article published in CounterPunch. The third one will focus on anthropology and secrecy. Before going any further, I must say that an article by a sociologist at the University […]
Read More…People just joining this debate will have some homework to do first, to better understand what follows below. Here is some of the history of the discussion. We began focusing attention on a debate between Australian anthropologists around the state’s intervention in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, starting with a commentary and extract in […]
Read More…For those who are interested, this is just a brief note of two relevant items posted on the website of Anthropologists for Justice and Peace. One, building on what John Stanton has provided in the previous post, focuses on the continuation and expansion of the Human Terrain System, with yet another anthropologist in the lead […]
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ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY 