Human Terrain & Anthropology (merged thread)

[marct]

Hi Ganuly,

[LIST=1][*] The two methods, broadly speaking, of social and cultural anthropology are ethnography (field work of the sort done by Malinowski) and ethnology (cross-cultural comparison using textual and non-textual artifacts of various kinds). The former is not the exclusive domain of anthropologists, though I think it fair to say they were central in its legitimization amongst scientists social and otherwise. The latter isn’t, either, but doing it well presumes some background that would be difficult to acquire outside of anthropology and a handful of genetically related disciplines (folklore and [human & historical] geography, for example).

We could go back and forth on this since a lot of it is national school dependent but, sure, let's work with these as the two base methods for gathering and comparing data. That said, we do know a fari bit after 150 years or so about kinship systems, economic systems, etc. that, IMHO, does have some direct relevance.

[LIST=2][*]Good ethnography is difficult in the most stable social contexts. Presume an ethnographic encounter between a visitor with no particular self-interest beyond intellectual curiosity and a local with absolute willingness to reveal the warts and all of his or her knowledge. Even if the visitor is a top notch student and the local a top notch teacher 1:1 transmission of knowledge is impeded by cultural differences and the reliability of data and inferences built on them is always somewhat in doubt. Now imagine the same ethnographic encounter when the visitor shows up backed by a group of rough men in full kit and the local has to answer to his or her shadow governor after they have departed. The reliability of data gathered under these circumstances and inferences built on them are in serious doubt.[*]I do not on principle object to the use being made of tools associated with anthropology by any parties to a conflict. I may find their aims distasteful but the fact is that anthropology made its IPO long ago. I absolutely believe that the agent handler, ODA team member, or FSO with some formal training in anthropology will benefit from it in the field. That is not to say, however, that I believe that good anthropological field work is likely during wartime (see #2 above).

Absolutely agree! This means that whoever is doing "fieldwork" under such a condition must be top notch in their ability to perceive patterns and anomalies. Basically, it means that we have to throw out your point 1, except as background reference, and concentrate instead on observation skills.

1. The entire HTS project strikes me as an effort to use ethnography to make an unfeasible strategy somehow serviceable. A better applied use of anthropological tools for OEF–like undertakings would be, IMHO, to run the strategy by a group of ethnologists and ask the seemingly simple question, “Do you judge this to be feasible in the first place?”

LOLOL - yup, which is why I am increasingly coming to the opinion that "senor social scientists" should be lodged in Red teaming cells vs. something like the HTS. Of course, that's another article .

This is just my 5¢ as someone who knows a lot more about anthropology than do most military professionals (and who fully acknowledges that military professionals tend to know no less about anthropology than do most other non-anthropologists) and more about the military than do most anthropologists (which is not to be understood as a claim that I have a vast or even good knowledge of the military). Some of it may be restatement of previous posts in this thread but I haven’t read many of them since joining this forum less than a year ago. It’s a topic that in my experience involves a lot of misinformation, posturing, and talking past one another so I tend to give it a wide berth for better or worse.

I would certainly agree that the "debate" is often a case of people talking past each other. Honestly, it's been kind of frustrating for me since all of the sides seem to have decided to ignore what actually happens . I think that's why I stuck the "rhetorical dead horses" in the title of my piece: I was honestly tired or hearing the "same old, same old" again, with little movement happening.

Cheers,

Marc

[jmm99]

Really Good to see your avatar back on the screen. Not to get between two anthropologists for too long, but ...

Vive le Moulin a Vent et Vive le Canada ! You know the rest of our drill.

BTW: I'm no longer a lawyer, but a "Retired Gentleman" (to steal a Victor McLaughlin line as Quincannon). I can reliably inform you that the "proper uniform" of a "retired gentleman" is sweats

Regards

Mike

[marct]

Hi Jmm,

Good to be back . I thought that sweats were the uniform for teleworkers !

Cheers,

Marc

[Stan]

Hello Marc,
Glad to see you about - you old pirate

David and I had just Skyped each other (that almost sounds like something the USG will ban soon with hints of data bits having sex ) wondering about your whereabouts and I honestly thought you were on the dark continent with M-A traipsing around in the jungle.

Regards, Stan

[marct]

Hey Stan,

Good to hear from you, too .

Nah, haven't been doing that much travelling, just dealing with life and a LOT of singing (we had our Carnegie Hall debut last summer, to rave reviews ).

On the research / thinking front, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how the CF can / should integrate their socio-cultural knowledge gathering and analysis, especially given our withdrawal from a combat role in Afghanistan. It's taken a while, but the picture is slowly coming together.

Cheers,

Marc

[ganulv]

LOLOL - yup, which is why I am increasingly coming to the opinion that "senor social scientists" should be lodged in Red teaming cells vs. something like the HTS.

HRAF is online now so there really is no excuse not to do some Phase 1 reading. Not that there was before.

On the research / thinking front, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how the CF can / should integrate their socio-cultural knowledge gathering and analysis, especially given our withdrawal from a combat role in Afghanistan. It's taken a while, but the picture is slowly coming together.

If you happen to be walking along the roadside when a pair of the CF’s new model snowshoes fall off a truck I might know a potential buyer for them in western Massachusetts. Not that there has been much need for them down this way this winter…

[marct]

HRAF is online now so there really is no excuse not to do some Phase 1 reading. Not that there was before.

True.... then again, I know a lot of people who just don't have the mindset for using the HRAF files . Anyway, it looks like the HTS is into a market expansion phase not only trying to sell the system to other countries but, also, getting into the phase 0 action .

If you happen to be walking along the roadside when a pair of the CF’s new model snowshoes fall off a truck I might know a potential buyer for them in western Massachusetts. Not that there has been much need for them down this way this winter…

LOL - they are nice, aren't they! I'd probably keep them for myself given how much snow we have been getting up here. Not as much as some years, but a few heavy days.

Cheers,

Marc

[jmm99]

are the wave of the present and future - the ultimate general purpose uniform even for those doing ethnography and ethnology.

That field work involving socio-cultural knowledge gathering, esp. where a common language is lacking and commmunication can be effected only by acting out the physical practices of the culture, sounds like it could get pretty sweaty - maybe no clothes is the best norm there.

All in all, cross-cultural comparison using textual and non-textual artifacts of various kinds sounds like a less stressful pursuit for aged gummers.

Regards

Mike

[Stan]

On the research / thinking front, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how the CF can / should integrate their socio-cultural knowledge gathering and analysis, especially given our withdrawal from a combat role in Afghanistan. It's taken a while, but the picture is slowly coming together.

Cheers,

Marc

Marc, One would think that almost anyone with background from their military experiences would be a great source of knowledge, but it seems to me that sociocultural analyses continues to take a back seat (as far back as post-1991). We can't even remotely figure out what the Chinese and Russians are doing, yet alone a far more complex subject like Afghanistan.

I'm certainly not going to argue with Malinowski, but I've known people that devoted their lifetime to going local, but yet, had no idea what they were talking about.

One of the things I immediately recognized was the pathetic use of interpreters. Locals like their own spin on things and that never translated into something our Embassy folks could comprehend. It's no wonder we're in the mess we're in

[ganulv]

I'm certainly not going to argue with Malinowski, but I've known people that devoted their lifetime to going local, but yet, had no idea what they were talking about.

One of the things I immediately recognized was the pathetic use of interpreters. Locals like their own spin on things and that never translated into something our Embassy folks could comprehend.

You know, Malinowski had the Slavic soul so he was working at an advantage. It’s true, though, just being there doesn’t mean you get it. And every field linguist I’ve known has a clue about local life in the places they have worked even if they hadn’t had the bit of formal training in socio-cultural theory per se. (On a tangent, I took a couple of courses from a linguist who is a Kinyarwanda speaker. He seems to think I’m pretty much a moron, not without reason. )

[Sweats] are the wave of the present and future - the ultimate general purpose uniform even for those doing ethnography and ethnology.

Personally, I think Supplex is gold for the hot and muggy stuff. But I won’t argue with my elders.

All in all, cross-cultural comparison using textual and non-textual artifacts of various kinds sounds like a less stressful pursuit for aged gummers.

Ça dépend. I’d take a day in Bali over a day with a crusty old archivist 99 times out of a 100. And that’s being generous!

True.... then again, I know a lot of people who just don't have the mindset for using the HRAF files.

It’s true, I sometimes forget that I’m a gentleman of the old school.

Anyway, it looks like the HTS is into a market expansion phase not only trying to sell the system to other countries but, also, getting into the phase 0 action .

That’s… surprising. My admittedly limited understanding of HTS is that it hasn’t borne much fruit. Or maybe it’s not surprising given the tendency of bureaucracy to spawn zombie programs (braindead but relentlessly expanding and hard to put in the ground).

LOL - they are nice, aren't they! I'd probably keep them for myself given how much snow we have been getting up here. Not as much as some years, but a few heavy days.

It’s a neat idea to use metal to construct a more traditional frame form and to use lacing rather than Hypalon for the flotation. But that’s a separate paper, as you put it earlier.

It’s so brown and bland down this way it might as well be the Midwest. I had to make a day trip all the way to central Vermont last weekend to get into any of the white stuff. I did get to pass some of the time by listening to the Canadiens/Caps game in the vernacular, at least!

[Ken White]

It's taken a while, but the picture is slowly coming together

Good to see you here again -- and I sure hope you'll share that as it comes together...

Sing well.

Ken