ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY

ISSN 2562-9948

by Maximilian C. Forte

Weaponizing Anthropology: An Overview

Weaponizing Anthropology: Social Science in Service of the Militarized State. By David H. Price. Published by CounterPunch and AK Press, Petrolia and Oakland, CA, 2011. ISBN-13: 9781849350631. 219 pages. For students already in anthropology and those interested in perhaps becoming anthropology students, for those researching the history and political economy of the social sciences, and […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Militarizing Africa and African Studies and the U.S. Africanist Response

By David Wiley [First published as: Wiley, David. (2012). “Militarizing Africa and African Studies and the U.S. Africanist Response.” African Studies Review, 24(2) September, pp. 147-161.] There was an ironic and troubling confluence in the 1958-64 years when simultaneously the majority of African nations won their independence, the Soviet Sputnik went up and shocked Americans […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Worried about Iraqis writing their own history? Then let’s violate international law, again

Military-controlled Information Access, Academic Imperialism, and the Cultural Cleansing of Iraq On three previous occasions I raised the issue of the illegality of seizing Iraqi documents, relocating them to the U.S., and then controlling access to them for the purpose especially of Pentagon-funded academic researchers–see: “Minerva Research Initiative Violates International Law and Iraqi Sovereignty,” and […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Information Traffickers of the Imperial State: American Anthropologists and Other Academics

From the Homeland Security Act of 2002: “The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, shall designate a university-based center or several university-based centers for homeland security. The purpose of the center or these centers shall be to establish a coordinated, university-based system to enhance the nation’s homeland security.” Uniform “Research” We […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Bibliography and Archive: The Military, Intelligence Agencies, and the Academy (with special reference to anthropology) – Documents, News, Reports

Over 470 reports have been published online concerning the relationships between anthropology, other parts of academia, and the military and intelligence agencies since 2001. The items covered here consist of online publications of the mainstream and alternative media, documents online referred to by journalists, statements and reports from professional associations, and journal publications by some […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

News from the Military-Academic Complex: McFate’s PhD, HTS Contracts, Minerva Grants, Afghanistan

Here is a medley of updates concerning previous posts on this blog: Concerning Montgomery McFate’s doctoral dissertation: Montgomery McFate’s PhD dissertation (when she was Montgomery Cybele Carlough) has been digitized in its entirety and is available for download by persons using libraries with subscriptions to ProQuest. What follows are some of the significant details about […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

(Re)Imperializing Anthropology and Decolonizing Knowledge Production

I presented the paper below, “(Re)Imperializing Anthropology and Decolonizing Knowledge Production,” at the 8th Annual Critical Race and Anti-colonial Studies Conference of Researchers and Academics of Colour for Equality (R.A.C.E.), held at Ryerson University in Toronto, 14-16 November, 2008. Almost a year has passed since I promised to post it here, and I suspect that […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

What are the Pentagon’s Minerva Researchers Doing?

(This post comes thanks to some leads on the James Petras website and Petras’ own essay on the Minerva Research Initiative, “Procuring Academics for Empire: The Pentagon Minerva Research Initiative“.) In late December of 2008 I posted about the news of the first recipients of the Pentagon’s Minerva Research Initiative, but until I saw the […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Canadian Responses to the Militarization and Securitization of Anthropology: Report #2 from the CASCA-AES Conference in Vancouver

At the University of British Columbia in Vancouver last Saturday morning (16 May 2009) more than two dozen individuals gathered within the setting of the joint conference of the Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA) and the American Ethnological Society (AES), for an “open session” titled, “Canadian Responses to the Militarization of Anthropology,” which followed from the […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

On the Militarization of Anthropology: Report #1 from the CASCA-AES Conference in Vancouver

The joint conference of the Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA) and the American Ethnological Society (AES) came to an end in Vancouver four days ago, and this should be the first of a couple of items to appear here pertaining the two sessions devoted to the militarization of anthropology and Canadian responses. The setting of the […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Anthropology, Militarization, and Canadian Responses: CASCA-AES Conference, Vancouver, 13-16 May, 2009

I will be participating in the upcoming joint meeting of the Canadian Anthropology Society-Société Canadienne d’Anthropologie (CASCA) and the American Ethnological Society (AES), held this year at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, 13-16 May. For those who are interested in further discussion and debate concerning the militarization of anthropology, the role of anthropologists […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Announcement of first awards under the Pentagon’s Minerva Program

Thanks to David Glenn at the Chronicle of Higher Education (“Pentagon Announces First Grants in Disputed Social-Science Program,” 23 December 2008), I learned of today’s announcement from the Pentagon of the first seven awards to be made to social science projects that applied under the Minerva Research Initiative. The Pentagon also announced that it had […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Henry A. Giroux: “Against the Militarized Academy”

As some readers already know, Henry Giroux was one of the U.S.’ leading critical scholars, until 2005 when he “defected” to Canada to take up the the Global TV Network Chair in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Even those who have never read his work are likely to have heard […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Minerva Research Initiative Violates International Law and Iraqi Sovereignty

The time has come for academic professional associations, funding agencies, and universities to oppose the violation of international law and Iraqi sovereignty by the Pentagon’s Minerva Research Initiative. Both on this blog (here and here), and The Chronicle of Higher Education, we explored the ethical violations represented by the call to applicants for Pentagon social […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Minerva and the Terrorism Industry: “The rule of experts as a means to covert imperial rule”

First, a video. On 27 August 2008, the U.S. Department of Defense hosted a workshop about the Minerva Research Initiative. Among the speakers was Craig Calhoun, president of the Social Science Research Council, cheerfully calling for enhanced and widened collaboration between academia and the military. Thomas Mahnken of the Pentagon is also presented as he […]