ignorance, but slightly smarter !
Hey Marc !
Honestly, I thought Steve was pullin' a 'Tom or RTK' to see if I would spin up (for lack of better terms), and in a feeble attempt to release tension herein, it became 'Kita Kidogo' time (where did Bill get that Bravo Sierra from?).
Back to reality for just a second, PRISP candidates are not fledglings barely making it with less than admirable moral qualities and questionable pasts, AND hopeless futures. The USG no longer doles out scholarship funds for potential (inept and introvert) spies that can’t communicate with other human beings…IMHO….doh !
Regards, Stan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
marct
Hi stan,
Damn! He told you?!? I hope he didn't mention the whips ;).
Seriously, though, Greg is a good case in point on "applied ethics" (and I know he monitors SWC so maybe he can jump in here!). When dealing with Greg, I have always tried to consider him as an individual. Yeah, I have berated him on some of the "c*^p" he has produced, but I have also taken him off on fieldwork practicums so that he can understand the reality of what it is like to do fieldwork.
And Stan, let's do a bit of a correction on your characterization of Greg - he's not and incipient "Spy Student" - he's just interested in getting into the arms trade :eek:!
True, although he has bought a few beers (okay, more than a few) :D.
Marc
The Dangerous Militarisation of Anthropology
Well damn, Dr. Marc heads off to Europe and those guys / girls at antropologi.info go and post this:
The Dangerous Militarisation of Anthropology
Quote:
On 15 December 2006 the US Army released a new counterinsurgency manual, FM 3-24. At least one anthropologist played a role in preparing the 282-page document: Montgomery McFate. Anthropological knowledge is even considered as more important than bombs: Military generals call for for "culturally informed occupation" and ‘culture-centric warfare’. But this development undermines and endangers the work of anthropologists and will end up harming the entire discipline, Roberto J. González and David Price write in the June issue of Anthropology Today (not yet published)...
What are the consequences of anthropologists engaging in counterinsurgency work? It's obvious that it both undermines and endangers the work of anthropologists and the life of their families and informants: It is plausible, Gonzales argues, that ‘once Thai peasants or Somali clansmen learn that some anthropologists are secretly working for the US government, they begin to suspect all other anthropologists. Fieldwork will be a lot more dangerous...
See MarcT's article in Vol 7 of the mag
Hi FL--
You need to look at MarcT's article in Vol 7 of the mag and the reply to it in Vol 8. Then go to the 2 threads generated for a more complete picture. Your comment is correct but it is amplified in those locations.
Cheers
JohnT
Ain't academics wonderful?
Academics are so much fun, especially social scientists, and among them, anthropologists. Some of them really are paranoid. They just know the military, government, CIA, industrial complex is out to get them. Not too bright though: don't they realize that the real power is now in the hands of the DNI? And he's just waiting to pounce on any naive and unsuspecting anthro grad student with MONEY while he gets his PhD in exchange for going to work for one of the DNI's community members as an analyst where he will be paid better than in academia and have as many or more opportunities for research. Oh, he won't be discouraged from doing a little adjunct work at the universities in the DC area, either.
Sounds just like a real raw deal to me!:p
Related SWJ and SWC Links
We're supposed to be surprised?
"Scientific" researchers travelling abroad have been in the employ of governments as long as there have been "scientific" researchers, and even before they were "scientific". Didn't Lewis and Clark have intelligence collection tasks from the government? Early surveyors were also scientists, but today we're open about it and admit that the mapping agency of the government, the National Geospacial Intelligence Agency is part of the intelligence community.
This sort of thing is how the British Empire got by with such a ridiculously small formal intelligence office.
The idea that "scientific" researchers work only for an academic institution, or private corporation is relatively new.
Now, while it is fashionable in academia to voice off against anything the U.S. government does, were the anthropologists in question directed/employed to do these things, did they volunteer, or did the U.S.G. make use of research that had been done already for academic reasons?
The cynic in me has to ask: is there really a problem, or is there a bunch of Anthropology grad students who just realized that to do field work, they'd be seperated from comprehensive medical care, the internet, flush toilets, health inspected restaurants, etc, and were looking for an excuse to stay at their nice comfy university? (I know I'm going to get flamed for saying this, but how many of y'all were thinking it?)