Comments on: Montgomery’s Minerva? http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/ Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog Fri, 25 May 2012 16:53:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: ckelty http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/comment-page-1/#comment-304591 ckelty Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:03:54 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/#comment-304591 how can she be influential when she's not networked. She's all alone, at least as far as social scientists are concerned. Seems the criteria might be more like "most successful lone anthropologist"... but I agree, I haven't seen a single worthwhile publication from her about anything other than the need for her research. And while I admire her for striking out and ignoring the haters, the proof is ultimately in the forthcoming pudding, if there is any... how can she be influential when she’s not networked. She’s all alone, at least as far as social scientists are concerned. Seems the criteria might be more like “most successful lone anthropologist”… but I agree, I haven’t seen a single worthwhile publication from her about anything other than the need for her research. And while I admire her for striking out and ignoring the haters, the proof is ultimately in the forthcoming pudding, if there is any…

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]]> By: oneman http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/comment-page-1/#comment-304585 oneman Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:58:47 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/#comment-304585 Well, she's already started shwoing up in those Annual readers various pulbishers make for Intro classes, like "Anthropology 2007/8" -- which is a shame, because the article ("anthro and Counter-Insurgency" -- the one I responded to here a couple years ago) is pretty bad history of anthropology, and really only appeals tot he kind of old fogey that wishes the last 40 years of anthro had never happened. Her argument for anthro as counter-insurgency isn't all that good, either, relying mostly on a single, obscure guy (a Dr. Bohannon, but not *The* Dr. Bohannon) who did counter-insurgency work in SE Asia for a while. But I guess it's easily digestible (as pablum often is...) so it supplants better histories of anthropology that might be more challenging. I don't know if we want to get into the game of predicting the future; I have a feeling thatt his whole burly-man phase in US history is going to be viewed very differently than any of us can really imagine. That said, anthropology has managed a lot of amazing things in the last 40 years, without military help; McFate's grand plan relies on anthropology continuing to supply a stream of conservative-minded anthropologists to do the work, and I don't see that happening. Her letter to Wired says there's only a couple of anthros in HTS right now -- it looks like her hopes of getting anthropology into military thinking is bringing in more non-anthro social scientists than anthros. Well, she’s already started shwoing up in those Annual readers various pulbishers make for Intro classes, like “Anthropology 2007/8″ — which is a shame, because the article (“anthro and Counter-Insurgency” — the one I responded to here a couple years ago) is pretty bad history of anthropology, and really only appeals tot he kind of old fogey that wishes the last 40 years of anthro had never happened. Her argument for anthro as counter-insurgency isn’t all that good, either, relying mostly on a single, obscure guy (a Dr. Bohannon, but not *The* Dr. Bohannon) who did counter-insurgency work in SE Asia for a while. But I guess it’s easily digestible (as pablum often is…) so it supplants better histories of anthropology that might be more challenging.

I don’t know if we want to get into the game of predicting the future; I have a feeling thatt his whole burly-man phase in US history is going to be viewed very differently than any of us can really imagine. That said, anthropology has managed a lot of amazing things in the last 40 years, without military help; McFate’s grand plan relies on anthropology continuing to supply a stream of conservative-minded anthropologists to do the work, and I don’t see that happening. Her letter to Wired says there’s only a couple of anthros in HTS right now — it looks like her hopes of getting anthropology into military thinking is bringing in more non-anthro social scientists than anthros.

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]]> By: Sheenie http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/comment-page-1/#comment-304378 Sheenie Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:42:38 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/#comment-304378 If you measure "most important and most influential anthropologist in the world" as the anthropologist with the largest budget, she might be. If you measure it by any actual results, not a chance. The Newsweek article shows that Human Terrain is a failure, but the pentagon doesn't have to show results to increase funding. If she "wrote" Gates speech, I hope someone checked to make sure she identified her sources. If you measure “most important and most influential anthropologist in the world” as the anthropologist with the largest budget, she might be. If you measure it by any actual results, not a chance. The Newsweek article shows that Human Terrain is a failure, but the pentagon doesn’t have to show results to increase funding. If she “wrote” Gates speech, I hope someone checked to make sure she identified her sources.

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]]> By: Strong http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/comment-page-1/#comment-304289 Strong Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:44:52 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/#comment-304289 Right? But also seriously... I mean, imagine the place that Montgomery McFate is going to have when intellectual histories of anthropology post-2000 are written... Here's a question: Is Montgomery McFate the most important and most influential anthropologist in the world today? Right? But also seriously… I mean, imagine the place that Montgomery McFate is going to have when intellectual histories of anthropology post-2000 are written… Here’s a question: Is Montgomery McFate the most important and most influential anthropologist in the world today?

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]]> By: Rex http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/comment-page-1/#comment-303661 Rex Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:32:50 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/#comment-303661 I guess we won't know for sure or not how connected she is until we see a patch with her face on it... :) I guess we won’t know for sure or not how connected she is until we see a patch with her face on it… :)

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]]> By: oneman http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/comment-page-1/#comment-303656 oneman Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:08:49 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/#comment-303656 Strong -- I was just messin' with ya! I admit I'm a little surprised at how popular McCFate's vision is proving; I have to give her that much, she's selling anthropology in places where we've thought it was a hard-sell indeed! It remains to be seen if she isn't selling us down the river, though... Strong — I was just messin’ with ya! I admit I’m a little surprised at how popular McCFate’s vision is proving; I have to give her that much, she’s selling anthropology in places where we’ve thought it was a hard-sell indeed! It remains to be seen if she isn’t selling us down the river, though…

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]]> By: Strong http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/comment-page-1/#comment-302892 Strong Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:03:51 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/#comment-302892 Oh... I noticed an uncanny resemblance between some of the priorities, and in fact some of the very wording ("open source"), of Gates's Minerva speech and what is identified here as McFate's culturalized military agenda. You don't follow Oneman? Seemed pretty obvious. Maybe too obvious given the explicit HTS content of Gates's speech. Anyway. {See also Peanut's comment on another thread: it seems to point at what I am getting at here.} Oh… I noticed an uncanny resemblance between some of the priorities, and in fact some of the very wording (“open source”), of Gates’s Minerva speech and what is identified here as McFate’s culturalized military agenda. You don’t follow Oneman? Seemed pretty obvious. Maybe too obvious given the explicit HTS content of Gates’s speech. Anyway. {See also Peanut’s comment on another thread: it seems to point at what I am getting at here.}

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]]> By: oneman http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/comment-page-1/#comment-302874 oneman Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:40:48 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/#comment-302874 I hope you wanted this post to be all about the glasses, because that's all I got... I hope you wanted this post to be all about the glasses, because that’s all I got…

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]]> By: Kerim http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/comment-page-1/#comment-302863 Kerim Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:24:07 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2008/04/21/montgomerys-minerva/#comment-302863 I missed the "æ" branding on the glasses the first time I looked that this. Nice touch. I missed the “æ” branding on the glasses the first time I looked that this. Nice touch.

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