The Pentagon's Embedded Scholars in Afghanistan and Iraq
The army enlists anthropologists and other social scientists in war zones, writes David Rohde in the NY Times:
UPDATE: Erkan's field diary has news round-ups on this topic, including this quote from the Tabsir blog:
In September, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates authorized a $40 million expansion of the program, which will assign teams of anthropologists and social scientists to each of the 26 American combat brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan. (...)Some academics criticize it as "mercenary anthropology," but I think this is great applied social sciences. Research should make the world a better place rather than fill libraries.
Col. Martin Schweitzer, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division unit working with the anthropologists here, said that the unit's combat operations had been reduced by 60 percent since the scientists arrived in February, and that the soldiers were now able to focus more on improving security, health care and education for the population.
UPDATE: Erkan's field diary has news round-ups on this topic, including this quote from the Tabsir blog:
In a video on the [NYT Times] website, an American officer explains that his soldiers no longer routinely break down doors of houses and violate the cultural space of Afghan homes, but let their Afghan counterparts knock first while they wait respectfully outside. While I am not sure it takes an anthropologist to point out what should be obvious through simple experimentation, the basic argument of the article is that the military is being coached to listen and work with the local population rather than play knee-jerk mercenary search and destroy games.Tabsir also links to Chronicle of Higher Education article from September about a petition urging anthropologists to stop working with the Pentagon in Iraq War.
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