SECURITIZATION – ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY

Did the Belgian Authorities Purposely Trigger the Brussels Attacks?

Updated March 27, 2016, 3:30pm EST. Among the dense clouds of speculation from mainstream journalists and the many supposed national security experts whose expertise lies in repeating nothing (“I have been briefed, but I cannot say anything further as it would compromise sensitive intelligence sources during an ongoing investigation”) one is forced to make one’s […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Which States? Which Secrets? Secrets from Whom?

From the journal of the World Policy Institute comes “The Big Question“ for its Fall issue on Secrecy and Security. I have maintained a research interest in the area of the anthropology of secrecy, and understandings of power in connection with secrecy in both anthropological theory and in the work of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks (more to come […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Landscapes of Emergency

Landscapes of Emergency is the title of a new short documentary film by Ross Domoney, produced by a Sussex Anthropology project on Public Order in Athens that has just been released. It provides a look at securitization, the imposition of a state of emergency on Greece in the wake of various efforts to control dissent and impose […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Complying with “Counter-Terrorism”: State Securitization of Canadian Academia (part 3)

(Part 1) (Part 2) Complying with “Counter-Terrorism,” Practicing Domestic Counterinsurgency Canada has a very long history of practicing various forms of counterinsurgency (military, political, and even religious), first against Indigenous Peoples, then against the citizens of other nations such as Afghanistan, and now against its own citizens at home. The place that inspired Apartheid, has […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Complying with “Counter-Terrorism”: State Securitization of Canadian Academia (part 2)

(Part 1) Taking Hostages: Research Funding to “Prevent Terrorism” Earlier this year, on January 25, 2012, Canada’s rather infamous and unpopular Minister of Public Safety, Vic Toews, announced the first call for proposals for the Kanishka Project, “a multi-year investment in terrorism-focused research by the Government of Canada”. (It’s somehow both chilling and comical: that […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Complying with “Counter-Terrorism”: State Securitization of Canadian Academia (part 1)

Insidious Security Recently I was contacted by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), to serve as a peer reviewer for research grant proposals submitted under the new “Connection Program”. Having publicly criticized the structure and uneven geographical and institutional distribution of SSHRC funding in the past (see [1], [2], [3], [4]), […]