The Amazon
“The Amazon is in the hands of the drug trade,” by Paolo Moiola, an Interview with Roberto Jaramillo, Jesuit priest and anthropologist, at Latinamericanpress: “Colombian Jesuit priest Roberto Jaramillo has lived in the Brazilian Amazon for the last 15 years. Since 2005, he is the regional leader of the Society of Jesus in the Amazon state. […]
Creativity in an Age of Connectivity
Genevieve Bell, an anthropologist working for Intel: “MOBILE phone use and instant access to the internet from almost anywhere could be stifling creativity, according to Australian born cultural anthropologist, Genevieve Bell. “I wonder if it means we don’t have enough time to imagine things”, Ms Bell told news.com.au. “I think there’s something really powerful about […]
Judgment Day
Paul Stoller writes about Judgment Day at huffingtonpost.com: Like many people in America, I attended a get-together on Judgment Day, Saturday, May 21. According to the biblical calculations of Family Radio’s Harold Camping, Judgment Day would bring earthquakes and storms, which would mark the beginning of the Rapture, a process through which true believers are […]
U.S. Border Troubles: From Pakistan to Akwesasne
Recent protests in Karachi against continued U.S. drone strikes should serve as a reminder that the violation of international law and Pakistani sovereignty in the interests of U.S. security predates the recent discovery and killing of Osama bin Laden. Under Bush and Obama, the U.S. government’s justification for these military operations is Pakistan’s unwillingness and […]
An American Dream
Louise Krasniewicz, an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke to CNN’s Only On the Blog about Arnold schwarzenegger: Arnold’s importance has never been about his acting or his bodybuilding or his great wealth and power.Arnold was, and probably still is, important because he has been one of the […]
April 2011
Table of Contents Recycling History and the Never-Ending Life of Cuban Things Sarah Hill Free Water! DIY Wetlands and the Futures of Urban Gray Water Scott Webel Transnational Waste and Its Discontents Joshua Reno When Blue Jeans Went Green Bodil Birkebaek Olesen The Science of Catastrophe: Making Sense of the BP Oil Spill David Bond […]
Does Height Matter?
The New York Times’ Room for Debate opinion section asks “Do We Want to Be Supersize Humans? If human bodies become taller, bigger and longer-living — is that progress?” Alexandra Brewis, a medical anthropologist, answers: Height conveys all sorts of important meanings about each person’s own development history. A photograph in my office taken two […]
Saudi Arabia
Madawi Al Rasheed, a professor of social anthropology at Kings College in London, spoke about Saudi Arabia to Elizabeth Jackson, an ABC Australia’s correspondent. Saudi Arabia tries to project itself as a stabilizer, as a force that would stabilize the region, but this means that they interfere in a very big way in other countries’ affairs. […]
Death in a Family
I am living with a large extended family, an experience that has been both comforting (people are always everywhere) and lonely (what a social misfit I am living so far from my own strong kinship ties!). Seven siblings (now ages 50–35) inherited the house I live in when their parents died. When one of the […]
Bin Laden is Dead
Susan Hirsch, a Professor of Anthropology and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, talked to NPR’s Melissa Block about Bin Laden’s death. Susan Hirsch’s husband was killed in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Melissa Block: I was wondering if over time, if Osama bin Laden did come to […]