david kilcullen – ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY

Time Line and FAQ for the Human Terrain System and Responses by the Network of Concerned Anthropologists and the American Anthropological Association

Knee Jerks, and Just Plain Jerks Recently on Savage Minds a number of uninformed assertions have been voiced by some commentators, to the effect that both the Network of Concerned Anthropologists (NCA) and the American Anthropological Association (AAA) instantaneously condemned the Human Terrain System (HTS) in the same month that it was publicly announced, allegedly […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

McFate: “Does good anthropology contribute to better killing?”

Anthropology, Human Terrain’s Prehistory, and the Role of Culture in Wars Waged by Robots: From “Gentle Pursuasion” to “Better Killing” David Price CounterPunch, vol. 16, no. 17, Oct. 1-15, 2009, pages 1, 4-6. In the current print edition of CounterPunch, distributed to subscribers, David Price provides us with a very valuable in-depth look at the […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Unhappy New Year for Counterinsurgency’s Social Scientists

So, the Human Terrain System, as we have known of it, is finally imploding. The “proof of concept” program, that got three of its young researchers killed, has apparently proven itself beyond repair. In the latest installment of reporting on the Human Terrain System, John Stanton continues to outline the transition of the program as […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

A “Radical New Experiment” in “Anthropology”? What HTS is NOT

So some political scientist (David Kilcullen) decides to call his counterinsurgency work “conflict ethnography.” Do we take that at face value as ethnography? On what basis is the Human Terrain System “anthropology” as Grant McCracken celebrates it, bemoaning that anthropology is only ever really applied when it is applied in dominating other nations and murdering […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

“Me so horny, me love you long time”: The Phallo-Fascism of a Vainglorious Anthropologist in the Academilitary

[Note that within a week after this was posted, the blog in question was presumably deleted and remained so for quite some time until late in 2009 apparently. Concerning the initial act of hiding the blog, see this subsequent post.] Eros and thanatos, meeting, in such a loving, lustful embrace. This post will appear to […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Militarizing Anthropology: Links to news, essays

Speaking of getting to know the enemy, here is a list of articles in which the new breed of imperialist anthropologists is either the darling of the elite’s media, or where one of them expounds on her charming views of the need to get to know people better before the military decides which ones to kill. What is amazing is […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Montgomery McFate: The New Heroine for a Collapsing Discipline (1.1)

[see “Me so horny, me love you long time”: The Phallo-Fascism of a Vainglorious Anthropologist in the Academilitary] …in a decaying hegemomic power, I might add. I just finished reading through one example of what will surely become a more visible, more audible set of apologia in anthropology for the work of the likes of […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Anthropology’s Dirty Little Colonial Streak

In good times it might appear to be a minor streak; at other times it is a big, broad swath. The coloniality of anthropology might be something hidden and obscured by the passage of time, perhaps seemingly esoteric; at other times, such as the present, anthropology’s role as an instrument of empire can come back […]