• Miscommunication affects U.S.-Iran relations
William Beeman wrote in the Huffington Post that “The United States is about to enter into another round of negotiations with Iran. Previous attempts have been limited and unproductive. One major difficulty is that Iranians and Americans after 40 years of estrangement have forgotten how to talk to each other. Americans often miss subtleties of communication in dealing with other nations for two important reasons. First, we do not appreciate the importance of status differences. Second, we believe that contrition is honorable and a precondition of improving personal relations.” Beeman is a cultural/linguistic anthropologist and chair of the anthropology department at the University of Minnesota.

• Haiti’s message to the Tea Party
Mark Schuller wrote in the Huffington Post about the current situation in Haiti and how, among other things, more foreign aid should go to bolstering the government so that it can do good for its people: “Undoubtedly, NGOs can do good work. But NGOs’ work has limits, and they can never be expected, or attempt, to replace responsible governments. This said, foreign donors only sent 1 percent of emergency aid to the Haitian government.” Schuller is assistant professor of African American Studies and Anthropology at York College of the City University of New York. He edited a new volume of essays about post-earthquake Haiti called Tectonic Shifts.

• What some women in Afghanistan say
Melissa Kerr Chiovenda wrote in the Huffington Post about Afghan women, culture, and development. She explores the question of “how much progress has been made with respect to improving the lives of Afghan women?” She reports on her findings from interviews with women about how military operations are making women’s lives more difficult, at least in the short term. Chiovenda is a doctoral candidate in anthropology at the University of Connecticut.

• Blogging Mali
A cultural anthropologist has become a sought-after Internet blogger in the wake of the recent coup Mali. Bruce Whitehouse, a Fulbright scholar from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, offers in-depth analysis, historical background, links, and local reaction to events in Mali. A recent post on the “Bridges from Bamako” blog is titled, “Light at The End of the Tunnel?” It analyzes a recent statement by coup leaders on transferring power to civilian rule. Another popular post was about the coup leader’s wardrobe with pictures showing Captain Amadou Sanogo wearing a dyed shirt under his fatigues and carrying a stick. According to Whitehouse, “People were very interested in how this young army officer was presenting himself and how he appeared in public…they were commenting on the uniform and this garment that he was visibly wearing underneath his fatigues, and they were commenting on the fact he was carrying a stick around.” The shirt represents a hunter’s cloth and the stick represents power.

• Gun in hand makes a bigga man
A new study shows that holding a gun makes a man appear bigger and stronger than he actually is. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, asked hundreds of people to guess the size and muscularity of four men by looking at photos of the men’s hands holding a number of easily recognizable objects: a caulking gun, an electric drill, a large saw, or a handgun. The study participants consistently estimated men holding guns to be taller and stronger than men holding the other objects. Daniel Fessler, associate professor of anthropology at UCLA, said “Danger really does loom large — in our minds.” The study, published in PLoS One, is part of a project funded by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research to learn about how people make decisions in potentially violent situations.

Continue reading “Anthro in the news 4/16/12” →

•  The coup in Mali
Africa News carried a conversation with several experts about the current political situation in Mali including cultural anthropologist Isaie Dougnon who is a professor at the University of Bamako and currently a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Florida.

•  Christians and Jews together in Indianapolis
The New York Times reported on anthropological research that is reuniting former residents of Southside, Indianapolis. “Upward mobility, Interstate 70 and the construction of a football stadium hollowed out the neighborhood starting in the late 1960s, scattering its residents and severing bonds of commerce and friendship.” Over the last four years, Susan B. Hyatt, an anthropology professor at Indiana University-Purdue University, has searched for former Southsiders and worked to restore ties through social events and reciprocal worship services at a church and a synagogue.

•  Nominee for World Bank president termed “hard left”
An editorial in the Washington Times claims that the U.S. nominee for the next president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, would take the Bank on a hard left turn:  “Dr. Kim, an American, is a physician and anthropologist with a significant background in public health and almost no knowledge of economics. Worse, as New York University’s William Easterly has pointed out, Dr. Kim has displayed considerable skepticism about the impact on the poor of what he calls ‘neoliberalism.’ He prefers to ignore the mountains of evidence that economic growth is the most effective way to reduce poverty.” [Blogger’s note: In the meantime, the price on amazon.com of Kim’s edited book, Dying for Growth, has skyrocketed to $293.14 for a new copy and $96.82 for a used copy.] Continue reading “Anthro in the news 4/9/12” →

• What the World Bank needs now
The media has been abuzz with opinions about Jim Yong Kim, the U.S. nominee for the next director of the World Bank. Gillian Tett writes in the Financial Times, that Kim is a much-needed Renaissance man. Others, in the go-for-growth camp claim that Kim is too narrow to handle the breadth of the World Bank portfolio which is growth through building roads and ports which, as we have all heard many times, will perforce will help the poor. All Africa News is pro-Kim:  “Since its inception in 1944, the World Bank has largely been governed by a politician or a celebrated Wall Street Banker or Economist…None, at least out of the last 11 presidents, has had a first-hand experience of the real challenges that face the developing world… Dr. Kim has rubbed shoulders with the poor, mingled with the most destitute and sought sustainable solutions for some of their problems…Dr. Jim Kim will be taking on this multilateral body with a different kind of experience, one that is crucial in making the institution more responsive to the needs of the developing world.” The Wall Street Journal chimed in with an editorial  applauding President Obama’s nomination, noting that “…Kim will face stiff challenge in reforming misguided lending programs;  regrets only that [this] outmoded institution will not be shut down.”

•  Failure in the time of cholera
The New York Times carried an extensive article on the cholera epidemic in Haiti which included  substantial commentary from Paul Farmer, medical anthropologist/physician/and health equality advocate :  “Dr. Farmer of Partners in Health… said he wanted  ‘health equity” — for the developed world to respond to cholera in Haiti as it would at home.” Partners in Health initially requested potable water be trucked in so that a traumatized population would not have to filter and treat its water. Purification tablets were delivered instead because it was considered cheaper and simpler. He said he kept thinking about the many water stations at the New York City Marathon: ”That’s for a sport, for heaven’s sake. You’re telling me the giant humanitarian aid machine can’t do that in an epidemic?”

• Murder, caste and class in the American south
An article in the New York Times about the murder of Trayvon Martin mentioned cultural anthropologist John Dollard’s pioneering research in the 1930s in a small town in the American South. Dollard, a white northerner from Yale University, was told by local people that soon enough he would “…feel about Negroes as Southerners do.” [Blogger’s note: Dollard did not get that feeling]. Continue reading “Anthro in the News 4/2/2012” →