We Cannot Abandon Humanity
As Bill Gates reads Jared Diamond & Steven Pinker, reiterate anthropology’s calling: “the fate of no human group can be irrelevant to humankind” (Trouillot).
political economy
Power & the Culture of Greed
Brooks uses culture to bypass power, inequality, economics, politics, and history. That’s the real cultural problem–and a problem anthropology must tackle.
Party Like It’s 1999
If “anthropology’s future depends largely on its ability to contest the Savage slot” (Trouillot 2003:9), then how to take Napoleon Chagnon’s Noble Savages?
Gun Control & Shoddy Anthropology
Arguments against gun control are rooted in shoddy anthropology: ideas about human nature, culture & history which anthropology does not support.
Indigenous Allies & Politics of Empire
The indigenous allies in Matthew Restall’s Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest point to contingent histories, not the inevitability of guns, germs & steel.
Geography, States, Empires
Eric Wolf’s Europe and the People Without History attempts to answer Yali’s Question – Why Europe? It’s time to rediscover the history of Eric Wolf.
Yes, the guns really do matter.
In our urge to understand complexity, anthropologists can make things more complicated than necessary. The guns matter. The U.S. needs a semi-automatic ban.
Valuing & Devaluing Anthropology
How might sharing anthropology change anthropological research and presentation? An anthropology of value and the value of anthropology during devaluation.
Sidney Mintz, Franz Boas, Anthropology – A Celebration
At the 2012 American Anthropological Association, Sidney Mintz received the Franz Boas Award for Exemplary Service to Anthropology and papers in honor.
Anthropology & Politics in 2012 Elections
Anthropology should be front and center–the 2012 Obama Romney election concerns race, culture, history, and power, key issues for political anthropology.
Conservative Goldmine
The “social construction of race” is a goldmine for conservative politics, offering endless denunciation, delusions of anti-white bias, & political venom.
Anthropology: Best Major to Change Your Life
Check out an Anthropology Major! It’s the worst college major for instant pay, but best major to change your life. And Anthropology can change the world.
(on Race/IQ)
Ron Unz gives my reading of Race/IQ a place in The American Conservative, asking if it is “Game Over” for Race IQ.
Race IQ – Game Over: It was always all about wealth
The publication of “Race, IQ, and Wealth” by Ron Unz effectively is game over for Race IQ peddlers–it was always about wealth & inequality.
The Headline We Should Be Reading
The headline I wish we were reading is how the nation gathered to reflect on Trouillot’s work and legacy: Anthropology Changed Everything.
Walmart Socialism
On using the informational-distributional capacities of Walmart to enact a sensible and sustainable future, Walmart Socialism and Utopia.
Toward a Public & Green Economy
We need public borrowing and job creation for a green economy. Expropriate Goldman-Sachs to bypass political impasse via public ownership.
Whiteness is a Project
Power and how power is projected must be understood as a process, not as a thing. Whiteness & White Privilege is an ongoing project and process.
Reform AND Revolution: Reasons to not Abandon the Quest
“The inadequacy of the bridge seems hardly a good enough reason to have abandoned the quest” (Anna Tsing 2005:85). On anthropology of reform and revolution.
Beyond Capitalism
Boone Shear and Brian Burke organized a special track for alternative political ecologies for 2012 Applied Anthropology, seeking to go Beyond Capitalism.
Ain’t it a little late in the game to throw your hand in?
A post from 2012 describing the options.to closing a neighborhood school. As Little Steven says: “Ain’t it a little late in the game to throw your hand in?”
fellow passengers in this world of ours
On the sorely-felt need for humility, empathy, and sympathy. On science, intelligence, Adam Smith, economics, Wealth of Nations, Theory of Moral Sentiments.
The Cost of Savings
Fighting the planned closing of a neighborhood school based on a false economy of market-based choices and political expediency. The cost of saving schools.
Teaching: Latin America & Caribbean 2012
Anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean is less about “peoples and cultures” and more about processes at work across the Americas.
Elizabeth Brumfiel, In Memoriam
Dr. Elizabeth Brumfiel, Professor of Anthropology & Archaeology at Northwestern University and an inspiring scholar, will be greatly missed.