Pages

14.12.09

Should Anthropologists Be Embedded with Troops in War?

"Anthropologists have traditionally had a pretty wonkish reputation, earnestly taking field notes while interviewing a tribal chief or lecturing in some college classroom about the intricacies of indigenous clan-systems. If the Pentagon has its way, though, more anthropologists will exchange their tweed for military fatigues and leave the halls of academe for the front lines. For the past two years, the U.S. military has embedded anthropologists and other social scientists with American troops in order to improve the Army's cultural IQ. But last week the American Anthropological Association (AAA) released a report coming out strongly against the program, saying that in both concept and application, it 'can no longer be considered a legitimate professional exercise of anthropology.'"

Read the rest of the TIME article here.

(Via @janchip from Twitter.)

No comments:

Post a Comment