Overview
Politicians, pundits, and Pentagon officials are singing the praises of a kinder, gentler American counterinsurgency. Some claim that counterinsurgency is so sophisticated and effective that it is the “graduate level of war.” Private military contracting firms have jumped on the bandwagon, and many have begun employing anthropologists, political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists to help meet the Department of Defense’s new demand. The $60 million Human Terrain System (HTS), an intelligence gathering program that embeds social scientists with combat brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan, dramatically illustrates the approach. But when the military, transnational corporations, and the human sciences become obsessed with controlling the “human terrain”—the civilian populations of Iraq and Afghanistan—what are the consequences? In this timely pamphlet, Roberto González offers a searing critique of HTS, showing how the history of anthropology can be used to illuminate the problems of turning “culture” into a military tool.
Full Product Details
Author: Roberto J. Gonzalez
Publisher: Prickly Paradigm Press, LLC
Imprint: Prickly Paradigm Press, LLC
Dimensions:
Width: 2.80cm
, Height: 0.10cm
, Length: 0.10cm
Weight: 0.113kg
ISBN: 9780979405747
ISBN 10: 0979405742
Pages: 134
Publication Date: 01 February 2009
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
"""A timely, hard-hitting critique of Human Terrain Systems and the dangers of social science subservient to counterinsurgency.""--Counterpunch-- ""Counterpunch"" (2/3/2009 12:00:00 AM) ""González strongly critiques the human terrain concept in its historical and contemporary contexts.""--Inside Higher Ed-- ""Inside Higher Ed"" (1/29/2009 12:00:00 AM)"
A timely, hard-hitting critique of Human Terrain Systems and the dangers of social science subservient to counterinsurgency. -Counterpunch
Gonzlez strongly critiques the human terrain concept in its historical and contemporary contexts. -Inside Higher Ed A timely, hard-hitting critique of Human Terrain Systems and the dangers of social science subservient to counterinsurgency. -Counterpunch
Author Information
Roberto J. Gonzalez is associate professor of anthropology at San Jose State University. He is the author of Zapotec Science: Farming and Food in the Northern Sierra of Oaxaca and editor of Anthropologists in the Public Sphere: Speaking Out on War, Peace, and American Power.
