“Anthropology” in the Snowden Surveillance Archive

A search for “anthropology” in the Snowden Surveillance Archive results in two hits. Both documents were created and presented by the UK GCHQ’s Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG) which sees anthropology as a method with which to “manipulate and control online discourse with extreme tactics of deception and reputation-destruction.” Take a look at the two GCHQ Powerpoints below and see how the surveillance apparatus views your discipline.

The ART of DECEPTION: Training for a New Generation of Online Covert Operations

Psychology: A New Kind of SIGDEV

Adam Fish

I am a cultural anthropologist and media studies scholar currently teaching and researching in the Sociology Department at Lancaster University, UK. I investigate media technologies, digital finance, and network activism. @mediacultures

One thought on ““Anthropology” in the Snowden Surveillance Archive

  1. What strikes me is that “Anthropology” disappears after couple of slides illustrating the relationship of the proposed program to existing academic disciplines. The same is true of “History.” Also, in those slides, both anthropology and history occupy very small circles compared to the other disciplines. Neither is treated has having anything in particular to contribute.

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