Anthro in the news 5/5/14

President Obama in Indonesia: The son of an anthropologist

barack-stanley-ann-dunham-halfsister — Stanley Ann Dunham (left) with her two children, Barack (middle), and Maya (right). Source: stanleyanndunhamfund

That’s meant to be a compliment! The Washington Post and other media covering the President’s trip to Asia noted that President Obama appeared to be especially comfortable during his visit to Indonesia:

“While Obama often utters a few halting words in the language of the countries he visits, he tossed off Malaysian phrases with ease during a state dinner in Kuala Lumpur. He also broke into a spontaneous exchange in Indonesian during a town hall meeting the next day. His personal connection to the region showed up in more subtle ways as well, as when he slowed his pace to keep in step with Malaysia’s king — a move many Malaysians saw as a cultural gesture of respect for an elder.”

Obama lived in Indonesia between the ages of 6 and 10. His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was a cultural anthropologist whose second husband was Indonesian. Their daughter, Maya Soetero, is President Obama’s his only sibling. Dunham spent two decades living in the region doing anthropological research on local artisans. She died at the age of 52 in Honolulu.

Vetiver: Wealth from Haiti’s land whisked away

According to an article in Reuters, the vetiver plant, a tropical grass, is a little-known Haitian agricultural treasure, producing one of the most prized essential oils for high-end perfumes. The crop is a major employer in southwest Haiti, where farmers have harvested vetiver for decades but earn little from it. Production of the plant in Haiti collapsed in the late 1960s during the three-decade-long dictatorships of Francois Duvalier (Papa Doc) and Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc). Pierre Léger, a Haitian agronomist, revived vetiver farming in the 1980s. Léger took samples to the top French and Swiss perfumers. “The quality was so good, they couldn’t believe it was from Haiti.”

The question now is: given the global value of Haitian vetiver, how can Haitian farmers benefit from it? Critics say the fair-trade system may not help the farmers enough given the precarious situation of vetiver famers. Cultural anthropologist Scott Freeman, a visiting scholar at George Washington University and author of a 2011 paper on Haitian vetiver, said events often force farmers to dig up immature roots to cover medical care, school fees or a funeral: “When they find themselves in a tight squeeze, they dig up the vetiver.” Continue reading “Anthro in the news 5/5/14” →

Anthro in the news 8/19/13

• In Cairo: the Morsi camps

Supporter of President Mohamed Morsi — A supporter of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Aug. 12, 2013. VOA/Reuters

Early this week, Voice of America reported that supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi were defiantly remaining at their protest camps in Cairo, despite days of warnings that the government would soon move on the sites. The article quoted Saba Mahmood, associate professor of anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley, who told VOA the interim government has not broken up the camps because the resulting bloodshed would be a “very serious political cost.”

But she says Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood is facing bigger stakes than getting him back in office: “So there is that issue that if indeed they back down, they’re going to not just simply lose Morsi, but they’re going to lose even the basis — the political, social basis — they have built over the last 40 years.”

[Blogger’s note: since then, much blood has been shed and are yet to see what the political costs for the military government will be].

• A probable first in history of anthro: U.S. President fist-bumps anthropologist

While on vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, according to the Boston Globe, U.S. President Obama played golf with World Bank President Jim Kim.

[Blogger’s note: Jim Kim, as most aw readers know, is not only the president of the World Bank but also a medical anthropologist, doctor, health advocate, and former university president].

President Barack Obama and World Bank President Jim Kim playing golf on Aug. 14, 2013. Darlene Superville/Associated Press

Continue reading “Anthro in the news 8/19/13” →

Anthro in the news 5/13/13

• Go directly to jail: Prison sentence for Guatemalan dictator

Many major news media covered the sentencing of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt to a landmark 80 years in prison for genocide and crime against humanity. ABC News quoted Victoria Sanford, a cultural anthropologist at Lehman College, City University of New York, who noted that genocidal massacres occurred before and after Rios Montt, “but the bulk of the killing took place under Rios Montt.”

Sanford has spent about 50 months in Guatemala and participated in excavations in at least eight massacre sites. Several of the articles quote Helen Mack, a noted human rights activist, and sister of Myrna Mack, who was murdered in Guatemala in 1990 for her work on behalf of indigenous human rights .

• What would Paul Farmer say?

To Repair the World by Paul Farmer — U. of California Press

Time magazine carried an interview with medical anthropologist, medical doctor, professor, and health activist Paul Farmer, prompted by his new book, To Repair the World, a collection of his speeches including some of his commencement speeches.

The lead question is: “Are you ever tempted to tell graduates, ‘I could have saved thousands of lives with the money you spent on your degree?'”

Paul Farmer responds: “I don’t think of it that way. I think, Here’s a chance to reach out to people who probably are unaware — as I was at their age — of their privilege and to engage them in the work.” He was also interviewed on the Diane Rehm show.

• Presidential note of gratification

Leith Mullings, president of the American Anthropological Association, published an article in The Huffington Post, expressing her appreciation of President Obama’s acknowledgment of the importance of anthropology in a recent speech:

“As an anthropologist and president of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), I was especially gratified to hear President Barack Obama acknowledge the discipline of anthropology and support its scientific integrity. In a speech at the 150th anniversary of the National Academy of Sciences, President Obama said:

‘And it’s not just resources. I mean, one of the things that I’ve tried to do over these last four years and will continue to do over the next four years is to make sure that we are promoting the integrity of our scientific process; that not just in the physical and life sciences, but also in fields like psychology and anthropology and economics and political science — all of which are sciences because scholars develop and test hypotheses and subject them to peer review — but in all the sciences, we’ve got to make sure that we are supporting the idea that they’re not subject to politics, that they’re not skewed by an agenda, that, as I said before, we make sure that we go where the evidence leads us. And that’s why we’ve got to keep investing in these sciences.'”

Continue reading “Anthro in the news 5/13/13” →

A double shot of culture at the 57th U.S. Presidential Inauguration

If you wanted to watch the inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Monday, some of the best places to be were near the swearing-in area, along Pennsylvania Avenue where the president and Michelle Obama might have decided to step out of their limousine and walk for a while, at home on your couch (with preferred snacks and beverages), or at the Embassy of Canada at 501 Penn.

Canadian mittens — A pair of mittens handed out at the Canadian Embassy during the 2013 U.S. Presidential Inauguration. Photo by Barbara Miller

I have never trekked downtown to watch the inauguration and parade in person before — in my 20 years of residence in the nation’s capital. But this year, a friend and colleague at GW received an invitation to attend the “tailgate party” at the Embassy of Canada, and he was allowed to bring a friend. Bob Maguire, a professor in the Elliott School, is the friend.

I got a double shot of culture: Canadian and American, all in one day.

Getting there was a short story in itself. Bob and I each live north of downtown, in different directions. Our original plan was to take the Metro, meet at Judiciary Square, and then walk to the embassy from there. Wisely, Bob suggested a change of plans: We would meet in my neighborhood in northwest D.C. and take public transportation to the Judiciary Square Metro stop. It turns out, that was a great idea; otherwise, we might never have met up.

The bus trip went well as did the subway segment. Who knew: friendly people on the red line! Conversations! The usual daily commute felt more like being part of a competitive sport.

During the commute, I asked Bob, who got his Ph.D. at McGill University and therefore has some direct Canadian experience, what we might expect at the tailgate party in terms of typical Canadian food and snacks. “Maybe bison,” he said, although he explained that bison might be reserved for a fancier occasion. He went on to explain that we could likely encounter Beaver Tails, poutine, and Mae Wests.

Beaver Tails are akin to what Americans might encounter at a state fair as fried dough, but it turns out that Beaver Tails are several gourmet steps up from most fried dough I have had. And there is a variety called the Obama Beaver Tail.

Poutine is french fries with a kind of clotted cheese (like feta only blander) and hot brown gravy. It was served in Dixie cups, and people snacked on it throughout the day. The main course on offer was either a hamburger (likely not a bison burger) or a hot dog on bun. There were no Mae Wests — apparently kind of like a double Twinkie consumed with a Pepsi on the side.

Back to the arrival: In getting into the secured area, we made a couple of strategic errors, standing in a line or two that we didn’t need to be in (see slideshow below). But eventually we found our way to the security line leading to the embassy, and we whizzed through with no problem to find that we were being gifted with a pair of really warm mittens. What a welcome!

Around 11 a.m., when — with warm hands and a happy feeling to be at such a nice party — we lined up for the competition to win a new Blackberry device. But you had to successfully complete a quiz about Canada. Lucky for us, the kind Canadians provided a tutorial in advance. Do you know how many checkpoints there are between Canada and the U.S.?

Continue reading “A double shot of culture at the 57th U.S. Presidential Inauguration” →