Message-ID: <31D087B3@hq.iucn.org> Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 17:47:00 PDT From: "TEMM John (Chip)" <mailto:jot@HQ.IUCN.ORG> Subject: Re: New Directions in Anthropology To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Hi,The previous response in this thread was quite eloquent and rational. I agree. However, I think I would boil my response to Coyote's original assertions down to two words: 'So What?'
These assertions are not new by any standard. There were several anthropologists speaking to the same concerns after the US-Vietnam war. Much more interesting than Coyote's simple statements are essays on the responsibilities of applied anthropologists and new models in which applied anthropology can be put at the service of the disempowered. See Robert Chambers' book, 'Putting the Last First', Norm Chambers' article, Applied Anthropology in the Post Vietnam Era, some of the work by Arturo Escobar, Michael Painter, David Gow, etc...
In any case, this is a discussion which would be more fruitfully undertaken on ANTHRO-L and not on DEVEL-L (Technology and development). Maybe Coyote's posting would evoke the desired defensive responses and mega-thread there...
In any case, I would advise Coyote that offering some interesting insights into questions like WHY anthropologists do or do not engage in the practices she/he is protesting (present and past) and HOW anthropologists can contribute to the welfare (present and future) of the exploited and disempowered would be much more valued here or in any forum- if you're mad then DO something about it. Read, synthesize, think, and produce something.
˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙Chip Temm mailto:jot@hq.iucn.org Applied Anthropologist mailto:chip@crosslink.net
My are opinions are my own and are subject to periodic, unpredictable change- reader beware.