Tag: Vietnam

Anthro in the news 2/18/13

• Gas company targets a protected park in the Peruvian Amazon

An article in The Guardian reported on how an energy company is eyeing the gas reserves of a Peruvian Amazon park where biodiversity exceeds any other place on earth and which is home to indigenous people who have little contact with the outside world.

Pluspetrol's Pagoreni-B gas well, part of the Camisea project in the Amazon jungle near Cuzco, Peru. Photograph: Cris Bouroncle/AFP
Pluspetrol's Pagoreni-B gas well near Cuzco, Peru. Photograph: Cris Bouroncle/AFP
The report is based on a leaked document. The revelation about Manu national park follows rumors and reports in Peru that the government is to create a gas concession bordering or including parts of the park, but which have not been publicly confirmed.

The Guardian quotes anthropologist Daniel Rodriguez, who has worked with indigenous federation Fenamad: “This is the first time we’ve seen evidence for plans to expand hydrocarbon activities into Manu.” Manu is home to 10 percent of the world’s bird species, 5 percent of all mammals, and 15 percent of all butterflies. Unesco has declared the park a World Heritage Site and biosphere reserve.

• Becoming a mother without a husband in Vietnam

The New York Times reported on northern Vietnamese war widows becoming mothers without husbands in order to avoid living without a child and dying a lonely death.

The article focuses on women in one village who “upended centuries-old gender rules and may have helped open the door for a nation to redefine parenthood.” Having endured the war, they developed a new strength and were determined not to die alone. They asked men, whom they did not interact with afterward, to help them conceive a child. The practice was known as “xin con,” or “asking for a child,” and it meant breaking with tradition, facing discrimination and enduring the hardships of raising a child alone.

“It was unusual, and quite remarkable,” said Harriet Phinney, an assistant professor of anthropology at Seattle University who is writing a book on the practice of xin con in Vietnam. Purposely conceiving a child out of wedlock, she said, “was unheard-of.” It was a product of the mothers’ bravery and a postwar society that acknowledged the unique situation of women across Vietnam, including thousands of widows who were raising children alone.
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Painting by more than just numbers: the case for anthropology

Guest post by Nick Bluhm

Can numbers alone capture the essence of human behavior? This is a question that most anthropology professors would quickly rebuff; yet former General Counsel of General Electric Benjamin Heineman posed this question in a recent article in The Atlantic.

Heineman suggests that in certain situations, an understanding of a community, country, or region requires more than just mathematics or formulas. As an anthroplogist, I agree that these “numbers” are insufficient for understanding human behavior. However, I would go further, and argue that anthropology is a necessary component of any community analysis.

At the heart of all human activity, at the most basic level, is an interaction between two individuals, who have preferences, biases, desires and idiosyncrasies. Anthropology examines these aspects in the collective, carefully developing an understanding of the qualitative, integral components of what drives a culture and a people. By aggregating these individual observations, mostly without the aid of numbers or formulas, anthropologists create a holistic picture, one that I believe is necessary for formulating effective foreign policies.

Tedious? Possibly. Essential? Certainly. Heineman provides an apt case study that highlights the need for qualitative data and field research: Vietnam. Heineman takes aim at former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, who clearly failed at forecasting the failure of American troops to surmount the determined North Vietnamese.

McNamara, in his memoir, acknowledges that the failure of Vietnam can be attributed to the “profound ignorance in the history, culture, and politics of the people.” Although the mea culpa came 30 years too late, as an anthroplogist, I find it validating to hear a former U.S. senior official admit to the importance of this knowledge, something that anthropology is ideally suited to provide.

Michael Dove shares Heineman’s sentiment, championing the importance of anthroplogy for a deeper understanding of foreign affairs. In his New York Times article, Dove describes the work of Dr. Ann Soetoro, renowned development anthropologist and mother of current President Barack Obama.

Dove explains that, much like the Pentagon in conducting the Vietnam War, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) lacked the essential perspective gained by Dr. Soetoro during her studies in Indonesia. Dr. Soetoro, who consulted with USAID, attempted to dispel its misguided assumption that the proper village delegate for channeling aid was the village official. Instead, she pioneered the notion of micro-credit, eschewing the USAID approach that she found exacerbated social stratification in the Indonesian villages.

And this is where the two articles agree. In any policymaking or decision-making capacity, there is an urgent need for a dissenting perspective, especially one that captures the spirit, social structure and culture of a community. Anthropologists must continue to challenge the numbers and rigid, formulaic policies heralded as the explanation and objective solution. Anthropology, though often unacknowledged for its contributions, provides an essential toolset for anyone who seeks to thoroughly comprehend the world.

Nick Bluhm is a public policy analyst at the law firm Cooley Godward Kronish, in downtown D.C. He holds an M.A. in anthropology from the George Washington University.

Image: “Lego People.” Source: Joe Shlabotnik.