Interesting statement, thanks for forwarding it. There's also an
appealing emphasis on the imperative to engage with public debate and US
policy on these issues: "The Executive Board affirms that anthropology
can and in fact is obliged to help improve U.S. government policies
through the widest possible circulation of anthropological understanding
in the public sphere, so as to contribute to a transparent and informed
development and implementation of U.S. policy by robustly democratic
processes of fact-finding, debate, dialogue, and deliberation. It is in
this way, the Executive Board affirms, that anthropology can
legitimately and effectively help guide U.S. policy to serve the humane
causes of global peace and social justice."
By the way, it's interesting that one of the key pieces on HTS refers
back to the CORDS programme in Vietnam - 'The Human Terrain System: A
CORDS for the 21st Century'
(http://leav-www.army.mil/fmso/documents/human-terrain-system.pdf). This
is a rather surprising 'lesson' to take from the US intervention in
Vietnam...
All the best,
Jon
John Morrissey wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> Some of you may be interested in the American Anthropological
> Association statement on the use of anthropologists in the U.S.
> military’s Human Terrain System project. They concluded:
>
> "In the context of a war that is widely recognized as a denial of
> human rights and based on faulty intelligence and undemocratic
> principles, the Executive Board sees the HTS project as a problematic
> application of anthropological expertise, most specifically on ethical
> grounds. We have grave concerns about the involvement of
> anthropological knowledge and skill in the HTS project. The Executive
> Board views the HTS project as an unacceptable application of
> anthropological expertise."
>
> The full AAA statement can be found here:
> http://www.aaanet.org/blog/resolution.htm.
>
> Now for an AAG or RGS stance on the military use of so much
> geographical ‘expertise’…
>
> Cheers,
>
> John
>
> __________________________________
>
> Dr John Morrissey
>
> Center for Place, Culture and Politics
>
> The Graduate Center - Rm 6408.02
>
> City University of New York
>
> 365 Fifth Avenue
>
> New York
>
> NY 10016-4309
>
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>
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>
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>
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>
> Web: http://www.gc.cuny.edu
>
--
Jon Mendel
Blogs:
http://www.watsonblogs.org/jmendel
http://holfordwatch.info
http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/?author=11
Webpage: http://www.dur.ac.uk/geography/postgrad/students/?mode=staff&id=2276
Skype: jon_m_m
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