Come join members of the Network of Concerned Anthropologists Steering Committee as they discuss their new book The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual: Or, Notes on Demilitarizing American Society next Sunday at the Shirlington Library, with a signing to follow at Busboys and Poets Cafe down the street. Please help spread the word. The event is free and open to all.
The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual: Or, Notes on Demilitarizing American Society
with Hugh Gusterson, Andrew Bickford, and David Vine
Sunday, December 13, 3:00 p.m.
Shirlington Library
4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, VA 22206
(703) 228-6545
Book signing and conversation to follow at Busboys and Poets–Shirlington
4251 South Campbell Ave
Arlington, VA 22206
(703) 379-9757
At a moment when the U.S. military decided it needed cultural expertise as much as smart bombs to prevail in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon’s Counterinsurgency Field Manual offered a blueprint for mobilizing anthropologists for war. The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual critiques that strategy and offers a blueprint for resistance. Written by the founders of the Network of Concerned Anthropologists, the Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual explores the ethical and intellectual conflicts of the Pentagon’s Human Terrain Team program; argues that there are flaws in the Counterinsurgency Field Manual (ranging from plagiarism to a misunderstanding of anthropology); probes the increasing militarization of academic knowledge since World War II; suggests strategies for resisting the deformation of anthropological knowledge; and proposes alternative visions for U.S. foreign policy. This is compulsory reading for anyone concerned that the human sciences are losing their way in an age of empire. Book discussion will take place at the Shirlington Library followed by a signing at Busboys and Poets.
anthropologyworks 