On the continuing (musical) post scripts...
My vote is for "White Rabbit" - Jefferson Airplane, 1967
Thanks for the reference to ethnography.com Stan
I just found this site due a link to my site, ethnography.com about the Human Terrain System. As an anthropologist, I am very excited and encouraged by the much more overt and "on the ground" use of anthropologists by military and intelligence communities. This is also a raving big deal to a lot of other anthropologists.
I have more than a couple of rants on my site about the short-sighted nature of my profession in this regard. On the other hand, I am meeting more anthropologists: students and long-term professionals alike, that would love the chance to work with the Human Terrain System program and other military or government agencies. Why? Because more and more anthropologists want to do something thats feels real and has an impact on the world around them and they make their own choices about what that looks like.
The only reason I am a member of the American Anthropology Association is because you are a member when you join to attend the national conference that was in my city last year. I would never sign some wacko pledge about the kind of work or clients I am partnering with. A) I have my own moral compass, thank you, and I don't need my supposed professional association dictating to me my moral choices. B) I am an anthropologist if I work for Habitat for Humanity or the CIA using cultural knowledge to develop propaganda (As an aside, some very famous anthropologists worked with the OSS to create propaganda in WWII and are held in high regard. The difference between what is seen as a morally "clean" war with nationally supported goals, and more ambiguous wars.)
The Anthropologists in academia get in a froth every few years about those of us in the corporate world (I use anthropology to develop corporate strategies for global and regional business units), and those in the government and the military. In fact they see no difference between an anthropologist in the military or business at all. In the past the code of ethics was very clear that the work most of us in business or government did was out of bounds. The result? Umm, we just didn't join the anthropology association. Its not like we missed much.
You'll notice that all these ideas for pledges and resolutions, etc to ban certain kinds of work by social scientists rarely if ever from people with actual experience in the field. Why? Well those of us in the Business/Government/Military end of anthropology are too busy actually DOING things.
Well Put, Mark...And Welcome Aboard !
Hey Mark !
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MarkD
I just found this site due a link to my site, ethnography.com about the Human Terrain System. As an anthropologist, I am very excited and encouraged by the much more overt and "on the ground" use of anthropologists by military and intelligence communities. This is also a raving big deal to a lot of other anthropologists.
Given your background, I'd be very interested in checking out your site. I've tried to obtain a better understanding of Anthropologists and Marc is always ready to assist.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MarkD
You'll notice that all these ideas for pledges and resolutions, etc to ban certain kinds of work by social scientists rarely if ever from people with actual experience in the field. Why? Well those of us in the Business/Government/Military end of anthropology are too busy actually DOING things.
Although I spent some time reading AAA's Code of Ethincs, I came away with mere broad stroke regulations and certainly no straight forward 'Do's and Don'ts'. At the very least, I found nothing forbidding an Anthropologist from assisting the US Military in saving lives, both ours and others. This broad statement would lead me to believe
the contrary:
Quote:
Anthropological researchers have primary ethical obligations to the people, species, and materials they study and to the people with whom they work.
- To avoid harm or wrong, understanding that the development of knowledge can lead to change which may be positive or negative for the people or animals worked with or studied
- To respect the well-being of humans and nonhuman primates
- To work for the long-term conservation of the archaeological, fossil, and historical records
- To consult actively with the affected individuals or group(s), with the goal of establishing a working relationship that can be beneficial to all parties involved
Regards, Stan
Ah, but it depends on what your definition of "is" is :)
Hi Stan-
Its true, the most current revision of the AAA code of ethics (which is also under revision) is no longer as explicit about secret research. At one point it was a direct breach of ethics.
The rub is the interpretation of the different parts of the code. Most anthropologists would still argue that a person should never do research that cannot be made public to everyone including those the research is about.
Take the "do no harm" related section. Of course, thats a basic *duh* for most people. BUT, what if you are doing research with military teams, say a bomber crew. The objective is to understand how to make them a more effective team to improve accuracy, reduce error and generally bomb the bejesus out of the enemy. For many anthropologists, you are indeed doing harm at that point. Cultural understanding to improve relations for military units is questionable, but sort of OK. Developing a better understanding of Al Queda to locate and bomb them is waaaaaay out of bounds.
Me on the othref hand? I am totally fine with anthro's working in any capacity. Before I was an anthropologist I worked developing training systems for tanks for the army and base interdiction for the air force, among others.
I don't object to a code of ethics of course. One of the most interesting classes I had in grad school was my ethics class. The time to really ponder ethical dilemmas is before they happen, then at least you have some footing when the inevitable unexpected surprise happens.
Here is a post I wrote about my most difficult ethical problem I have encountered. http://www.ethnography.com/2007/03/w...hical-dilemma/