“Security, Loyalty and Social Science, ” a panel discussion with the American Anthropological Association's Ad hoc Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with the U.S. Security & Intelligence Communities.
As armed forces and intelligence agencies try to come to terms with the importance of culture in military and security operations, anthropologists are increasingly called in to advise them. A special commission of the American Anthropological Association will address the ethical and political questions this type of engagement raises for scholars.
Location: Joukowsky Forum, Watson Institute,
Event Summary
Watson this week hosted an American Anthropological Association (AAA) commission studying the increasing demand for anthropologists to act as military advisors. As reported on by the Chronicle of Higher Education, “American military and intelligence agencies have increasingly been turning to anthropologists and other social scientists for ‘cultural knowledge’ about actual and potential adversaries. But many anthropologists are deeply anxious about offering such assistance, fearing, among other things, that their insights might be used simply to help torture and kill people more effectively.”The eight-member AAA Ad Hoc Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with the US Security and Intelligence Communities began its work last summer in response to such developments as the placement of Central Intelligence Agency recruitment advertisements in AAA publications. At the Watson Institute, the Cultural Awareness in the Military Project has also been investigating the ethical, practical, and technological issues raised by the military's quest for greater cultural awareness.
Scheduled to conclude its work in November, the commission is to provide AAA members with guidance in navigating the complexities of professional engagement with the military and security communities.