All posts by Ryan

Ryan

Ryan Anderson is a cultural and environmental anthropologist. His current research focuses on coastal conservation, sustainability, and development in the Californias. He also writes about politics, economics, and media. You can reach him at ryan AT savageminds dot org or @anthropologia on twitter.

Sunday Open Thread

A few of us here at Savage Minds have rolled around the idea of doing more Open Threads every now and again.  So I figured we’d try one out today and see what happens.  So here goes: This is a place to post your anthropologically-related links, comments, questions, and so on.  If there’s an issue that you think we Savage Minds need to know about, post it.  If you have heard of some new fascinating research, post it.  If there are some world events that you think speak to anthropology, post away.  If you went to a garage sale and found a vintage book by Franz Boas, I want to hear about this.  Also, if you have been a long time SM reader, but have never dared post a comment, this is a good place to get your digital feet wet.  Try it out.  It’s fun.

Ok, let’s see what happens.  Post away!  In the mean time, I’ll leave you with a few odds and ends from the “news and other stuff at least tangentially-related to anthropology” file just to break the ice here a bit. Continue reading →

Inconsistent values: some thoughts about money

Money is pretty strange, especially the more you really think about it.  What makes people willing to hand over things like DVDs, steaks, and churros in exchange for a piece of paper with ridiculous little pictures and numbers all over it?  Why would anyone trade a delicious arrachera taco, say, for a grubby little piece of metal with an eagle stamped into it?  Why do sane people accept these transactions as reasonable, let alone desirable?  Well, there are of course a lot of reasons behind these kinds of decisions, including everything from the political power of states to a kind of trust that exists within a community of users.  One question that always gets me thinking is this: what exactly upholds the value of money?  State power?  Trust?  The symbolic meanings  that people attach to money?  Habit?  A big global conspiracy?  All of the above!?!*

I have been working in Mexico off and on since around 2007, and during that time I have had a few interesting run-ins with this thing we call money.  Many of these experiences point to one particularly intriguing fact: the value of money is anything but stable.  Of course, we all know that.  Markets shift, currencies rise and fall.  Inflation happens.  The value of money changes all the time, right?  Yes, it does.  But what I am talking about is how money that is supposedly stable at larger levels can change value depending on specific social situations.  So values shift in the macro sense, but also in micro, very quotidian senses as well.  And the reasons for those micro fluctuations of value are many.  In short, when it comes to the actual value of money, social context matters.  A few examples: Continue reading →

Giving Marx some credit

And now for some humorous and interesting, if not outright hilarious, socio-cultural phenomena for your anthropological Saturday morning.

The small background images on credit cards are a way in which people can personalize their credit cards and express a small part of their identity (along with everyone else who chooses the same theme, of course).  My Visa has a nice image of a Hawaiian seascape and sunset.  Very tranquil and beautiful.  It’s so I can feel like I’m on vacation from reality while I’m amassing debt, I suppose.

Well, the NPR Planet Money blog has a new piece about the latest version of the Mastercard in Germany: The Karl Marx MasterCard. Continue reading →

There will come soft rains

A few thoughts about Ray Bradbury, writing, communication, and anthropology.

If there is one author that first sparked my interest in what we broadly call “the human condition,” it would definitely have to be the late Mr Ray Bradbury (William Golding gets a close second with The Lord of the Flies).  I first read some of Bradbury’s short stories way back in seventh grade, and his words have stayed with me ever since (I only wish I could find my seventh grade English teacher to let him know his efforts were not wasted).

Bradbury’s science fiction was always deeply human, and often full of poignant warnings about the potential future of the human race.  He was especially preoccupied with the machines we create, and how they can assert a certain amount of control over our lives.  Near the end of his life he was quoted saying this: “We have too many cellphones. We’ve got too many internets. We have got to get rid of those machines. We have too many machines now.” Continue reading →

Keeping it open (fieldwork, abstraction, and unexpected surprises)

In case you haven’t heard, one of the ideas/concepts that I have been exploring is value.  Check out this post here on SM for a little background.  The concept itself is either really, really interesting, or, as one of my friends put it: little more than a big weasel word.

So which is it?  Both, I think.

Reading books and articles by Keith Hart, David Graeber, and Julia Elyachar, among others, has convinced my both of the fact that value is interesting and somewhat maddening.  It’s incredibly rich, and terribly vague at the same time.  I mean, how do we determine the value of particular things, ideas, and places–and how are different value regimes or systems comparable (e.g. is there a really useful way to compare or juxtapose moral value systems with those based upon money and markets)?

Going into fieldwork I decided to put the whole value question to the side a bit, and let things go where they may for a while.  Sometimes it’s a good idea to let certain pet ideas and theories take a back seat for a while to open up room for a range of possibilities. You know, let the empirical stuff run amok for a bit and keep a notebook on hand just in case.  Besides, I was getting to a point where the whole value thing was starting to seem a bit too abstract.  So I gave it a rest. Continue reading →

Being there, in the field, with and without internet

Another update from the trenches of fieldwork.  This one is brought to you by the sweet, streaming, wireless connection of an internet cafe that’s about 45 minutes from my fieldsite.  It’s the bloggers version of an oasis to find these sorts of places, especially when there’s a breakfast special that includes coffee with the juevos rancheros.

First of all, I’ll admit that I was pretty spoiled during the first few months of fieldwork because I had WIRELESS INTERNET access anytime I wanted.  That’s right, a wireless connection right in my room.  Madness, I know.  This was definitely not the case when I was here in 2009 and 2010 doing prelim work for my dissertation.  I had no problems with my fantastic and luxurious internet situation…until it evaporated like spilled gasoline.

Gone. Continue reading →

Anthropology: Five Books

In the comments section to one of my recent posts about Jared Diamond, SM reader Michael asks:

Could anyone recommend some accessible anthropology literature? What would be 5 (or so) good books a generally educated person could read?

I think this is a great question.  I actually asked a similar question last August in this post, and while there were a few people who provided their 5 picks (here and here), I’d like to raise this question again to see what we come up with here.  If you had to pick 5 anthropology books that best represent the discipline, and that are also accessible to general readers, what would they be?  Just to get the ball rolling, here’s my new list:

  1. Debt, the First 5,000 Years by David Graeber
  2. Paradise in Ashes by Beatriz Manz
  3. Culture on Tour by Edward Bruner
  4. Righteous Dopefiend by Bourgois and Schonberg
  5. Behind the Gates by Setha Low

My list is by no means definitive, and it’s almost impossible to pick only five. My list also obviously has a socio-cultural anthropology slant.  So it would be great to see suggestions from linguistic anthropologists, biological anthropologists, archaeologists, medical anthropologists, etc.  What books would you pick?  Let’s hear it.

PS: Thanks, Michael, for bringing up this question.

Spike TV & National Geographic: Glorifying Looting

And now for some news on the archaeology and stupid-TV-show-ideas front.  Total #NationalGeographicFAIL and #SpikeTVFail at the same time.  A double whammy of bad ideas.  Several of my archaeology colleagues at the University of Kentucky have been talking about the recent news that Spike TV and National Geographic are planning two new shows that basically glorify outright looting.  Grad students are passing around the link to this online petition: “Stop Spike TV from looting our collective past!”  Archaeologists (and plenty of others) are rightly up in arms about this.  Michael E. Smith over at Publishing Archaeology has a new post that discusses some of the details:

SAA and other groups, such as SHA, have already prepared and sent strong letters condemning both of these programs to the production companies, networks, and others. Copies of the SAA letters can be found on the SAA website (http://bit.ly/w2MHJM, and http://bit.ly/wzT7IA). The letters provide details on why we are so concerned. Up to this point Spike TV has not responded to the public outcry. Leadership of National Geographic, however, has indicated that, while they are unable to stop the showing tomorrow on such short notice, they will place a disclaimer into the show that speaks to laws protecting archaeological and historic sites.

Read the rest of the post.  While I’m not really surprised that Spike TV is doing something like this, the fact that the folks at Nat Geo even considered this is ridiculous.  If you have updates about this, please share in the comments section.  Thanks to the U of Kentucky grad students, Michael, and everyone else for working to get the word out about this issue.  Definitely no time to be passive when it comes to archaeological, historical, and cultural heritage.

Mac McClelland (Mother Jones) on being a “Warehouse Wage Slave”

This is the kind of investigative journalism that I find extremely relevant.  Have you ever bought books or anything else from online distributors?  Ever stopped to really think about how that product you ordered actually makes it to your doorstep so rapidly, and at such a low price?  Journalist Mac McClelland has a new article over at Mother Jones where she does a little digging into the inner-workings and conditions of “Amalgamated Product Giant Shipping Worldwide Inc.” (not the real name of the company), which is a large-scale online distributor.  Her first hand descriptions and experiences remind me of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle–although the jungle she explores isn’t filled with the horrors of meatpacking, it’s congested with long hours, brutal time constraints, low wages, and, well, other strange things that people buy online and want shipped to them as soon as possible (read it to find out).  Here’s a poignant selection where McClelland critically questions the reasons behind these conditions:

As if Amalgamated couldn’t bear to lose a fraction of a percent of profits by employing a few more than the absolute minimum of bodies they have to, or by storing the merchandise at halfway ergonomic heights and angles. But that would cost space, and space costs money, and money is not a thing customers could possibly be expected to hand over for this service without huffily taking their business elsewhere. Charging for shipping does cause high abandonment rates of online orders, though it’s not clear whether people wouldn’t pay a few bucks for shipping, or a bit more for the products, if they were guaranteed that no low-income workers would be tortured or exploited in the handling of their purchases.

Is it anthropology?  Does that question even matter?  I think there is plenty of relevance here.  The article is worth a read.  But, in regards to anthropology, this article has me wondering whether or not there are anthropologists out there exploring similar issues.  If so, who?  If not, why not?  Another example of a pervasive, everyday issue that anthropologists are in a good position to thoroughly explore.  McClelland’s narrative and discussion is based upon a relatively short stint with the company, and I’d be interested to hear about similar projects, as well as others that are based upon longer-term experience.  Anyway, if any of you Savage Minds out there know of related work, let me know about it in the comments section.  Or, let me know what you think about McClelland’s investigation and article.

Arrivals, routines, interviews, field notes and chance connections

Let’s call this an update from the field.  I would like to call it a dispatch, but that doesn’t sound right.  I have wireless, so that probably doesn’t count.  Can a blog post really be a dispatch?  I imagine that a true dispatch would have to involve something more…mechanical.  You know, like a telegraph or something.  I’m thinking that dispatches require clanking metal and moving parts.  I could be wrong.

Today I was thinking about arrivals, and how all anthropologists love to tell their arrival stories.  We like certain kinds of stories, and we like to write about them and compare them like treasured little baseball cards.  Ok, I do it too.  We start off in place A with all sorts of plans, ideas, theories, methods, and hopes…and then we find some way to get to place B, take stock, and see what’s really possible given limited money, sanity, and time.  Leaving one place and entering another–especially with the strange, self-imposed  job of “doing research”–has all sorts of jarring effects.  Some places more than others.  We deal with these transitions, I think, through some of the stories we tell.  Whenever we get the chance to tell them, of course.  Sometimes it takes a while to find a pay phone, or a friend, or a high speed wireless signal so we can get the stories out of our heads.  Anyway, here’s a classic arrival scene: Continue reading →

Chron of Higher Ed: Charles Murray’s New Book

Peter Schmidt over at the Chronicle of Higher Ed has a new article that takes a long look at Charles Murray’s new book “Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010.  Murray is one of the authors of the (in)famous book The Bell Curve, if you didn’t already know.  Schmidt writes:

Mr. Murray’s newest book, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 (Crown Forum), makes a pretense of making nice. It bills itself as an attempt to alleviate divisiveness in American society by calling attention to a growing cultural gap between the wealthy and the working class.

Focused on white people in order to set aside considerations of race and ethnicity, it discusses trends, like the growing geographic concentration of the rich and steadily declining churchgoing rates among the poor, that social scientists of all ideological leanings have documented for decades. It espouses the virtues of apple-pie values like commitment to work and family.

The thing about Murray, Schmidt argues, is that he is particularly prone to controversy, and this book is no exception.  Ironically, as Schmidt points out, one of Murray’s underlying themes is the social fabric of society has broken down–his book is in part a call for a return to the days of mutual trust and togetherness.  However, Schmidt writes, here is where the argument heads down a path that stirs up heated reactions and controversy:

In the midst of all of his talk about togetherness, he puts out there his belief that the economic problems of America’s working class are largely its own fault, stemming from factors like the presence of a lot of lazy men and morally loose women who have kids out of wedlock. Moreover, he argues, because of Americans’ growing tendency to pair up with the similarly educated, working-class children are increasingly genetically predisposed to be on the dim side.

Here is the link to Schmidt’s article again.  Check it out.  See what you think.  Murray sells a lot of books, and has a certain amount of influence in the policy world…and he also treads into social science territory.  His messages definitely get heard.  These are absolutely the kinds of conversations that we, as anthropologists, can and should find a way to address.

Archaeology & place

It’s 8 am, and already bright.  I’m out for an early morning walk because it’s a good way to see what ‘s going on around this community–to see what people are up to, and also just to go check out the surrounding landscape.  I like to do this a few times a week…it’s good for getting the ideas rolling.  I walk up a small ridge along the coast.  I weave my way through the thorny, chaotic bushes that try to impose themselves on the trail.  Why is everything in the desert sharp?  As I walk up to the crest of the ridge, I get a view of a large, blue-green bay curving in front of me.  Down below the dark forms of the rocky reef peek through the shimmering water.  Other obscure forms dart around below the water’s surface: sharks.  I walk over to the edge of the ridge, and notice darker soil eroding out of the bank.  Amidst this soil: a slew of broken rocks and shells.  Another archaeological site, another testament to the depth of human occupation in this place.  The whole coast has similar remnants of the hunter-gatherer populations that lived here thousands of years before the words “international five start hotel” were ever muttered on the Baja California Peninsula. Continue reading →

Shine on you crazy [Jared] Diamond

Ok, since everyone on here seems to be writing about Jared Diamond, including Jason, I am going to go ahead and jump on the bandwagon too.  I can’t resist.  What can I say?  I’m a complete opportunist.

A true story in which Jared Diamond plays a key role: During my undergrad I had two back-to-back anthropology classes. One was an archaeology/ethnohistory class about the European conquest of the Americas. The second was a course focused on pastoralism that took a cultural ecology/environmental anthropology approach. Both were excellent classes that I remember well to this day. Fantastic classes, actually.  One day, Diamond came up in class #1. My prof said: “Don’t waste your time with Guns, Germs, and Steel. Diamond’s arguments are terrible and full of environmental determinism.” In the next class, on the same day (no joke), my prof in class number two also brought up Guns and said, “It’s a GREAT book you have to read it.”  He was emphatic.  Considering the strong opinions: I read the book.* Continue reading →

News: AAA Response about Public Access to Scholarly Publications

I just read about this news this morning (thanks to the wonders of email).  The American Anthropological Association recently published its comments to the Request for Information (RFI) from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) about the state of affairs when it comes to public access to scholarly publication.  All of the responses are here, and the AAA response is #282.  That’s right, scroll down and have a look at number two hundred and eighty two.  It’s worth it.

But, in case you don’t feel like scrolling right now, how about a couple of nice selections from the AAA response:

We write today to make the case that while we share the mutual objective of enhancing the public understanding of scientific enterprise and support the wide dissemination of materials that can reach those in the public who would benefit from such knowledge (consistent with our association’s mission), broad public access to information currently exists, and no federal government intervention is currently necessary.

Also:

We know of no research that demonstrates a problem with the existing system for making the content of scholarly journals available to those who might benefit from it.

Emphasis mine in both cases.  Take the time to check out the comments, which you can download as a PDF and share with your friends and colleagues (just an idea).  Comments?  Thoughts?

 

Update: Here is the direct link to the PDF of the AAA comment.

Update II: A few reactions from around the web:

Daniel Lende: American Anthropological Association Takes Public Stand Against Open Access

Dienekes Pontikos: The American Anthropological Association opposes open science

Michael E. Smith: American Anthropological Association joins the dark side of the force (with appropriate imagery)

Update III: For some background on what’s wrong with the RWA, check out this post by Barbara Fister

Update IV: Kristina Killgrove makes an excellent point about grad students who find themselves outside of the system, here.