Chapter 13 Additional Resources

How Do Anthropologists Study Political Relations?

Websites

  • The Anthropology of Biopolitics
    https://anthrobiopolitics.wordpress.com/about-this-blog/
    This blog links contemporary events with Foucault’s concepts of biopower and biopolitics, as discussed throughout this chapter. Cross-cultural in its approach, Garrison’s work draws upon a number of cultural examples to highlight how biopower operates within different cultural contexts as a means of creating an orderly, modern citizenship.
  • Journal of International Political Anthropology
    http://www.politicalanthropology.org
    The subfield of anthropology that studies political relations, among other things, is referred to as political anthropology. With that in mind, the Journal of International Political Anthropology’s website provides visitors with access to journal articles on the topic, meetings, symposiums, book reviews, and other materials pertinent to anyone interested in understanding how and why anthropologists study political relations as well as their practical significance.
  • The Political and Legal Anthropology Review (PoLAR)
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1555-2934
    This is an excellent resource for learning more about political and legal organizations from an anthropological, cross-cultural perspective. This peer-reviewed journal allows students to access the most recently published articles. Additional volumes of this journal should be available through your institution’s library system as well.

Videos

Feingold, David, and Shari Robertson. 1990. Inside the Khmer Rouge. Watertown, MASS: Documentary Educational Resources. DVD, 45 min.

This film documents the ways in which coercive forms of power were utilized by the Communist regime of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Interviews with Cambodian citizens, resistance fighters, and government personnel are highlighted. As an unstable form of power, the coercion and violence of this political regime sparked a number of resistance movements, some of which are highlighted throughout the film.

Koopman, Colin. 2013. “From Biopower to Infopower.” Oregon State University, School of History, Philosophy, and Religion [Lecture]. YouTube video, 49:17. Posted Dec 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTGvaG6T_G4&index=3&list=PLUZ78uOneifId3hFNkV7e1duWzGHQjv6f.

This lecture by Colin Koopman applies Foucault’s notion of biopower to our increasingly surveilled society and introduces what Koopman calls “infopower.” Infopower refers to the synthesis of information and politics such that the production of, and access to information is increasingly politicized. He applies this concept to new forms of media (e.g., internet technologies) to ask how the increasing technologization of our society impacts us in a variety of ways, such as ethics.

Pablo, Juan. 2013 “Why should we start taking indigenous world views seriously?” TedX University of St. Andrews (YouTube December 4, 2013. 10:23)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pP0tPAEm6E

A Peruvian anthropologist who has worked among the Ashaninka groups in the Peruvian Amazon since 2007 and has been active in their conflict resolution and ongoing challenges with their political movement in Peru. Documents some of the struggle against neoliberal development policies put forward by the government from an anthropological perspective.

Scott, James. 2010. “The Art of Not being Governed.” The McMillan Report, Yale University. YouTube video, 18:09. Posted Nov 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVwrUsib4vU.

This video features an interview with and a lecture by James Scott, whose work on the marginalized’s resistance is featured throughout this chapter. In this video, Scott argues that the development of state societies is not inevitable, nor is it an index of progress. He examines how and why many societies (like hunters and gatherers) remain stateless, and how they enforce social norms and ideas of order within such contexts.

Veuve, Jacqueline. 1994. Barracks Man. Watertown, MASS: Documentary Educational Resources. DVD, 90 min.

Filmed over a four-month period in 1990, this film documents the recruiting process and basic training exercises performed by five recruits within a French-speaking platoon stationed in Colombier, Switzerland. Switzerland has mandatory military service, and this ethnographic film examines how notions of discipline and order are instilled within military recruits.

Books and Articles

Bodley, John H. 2008. “The Price of Progress.” In Victims of Progress, 5th ed., pp. 137–151. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. http://web.mnstate.edu/robertsb/380/PriceOfProgress.pdf.

Bodley’s Victims of Progress is a must-read for students of political anthropology. The information contained therein is pertinent to understanding the ways in which political relations and economic systems are inherently intertwined. An excerpt can be found at the link above. Once you’re done reading it, take a moment to mull over the critical thinking questions for this chapter.

Bouciurkiw, M. 2011. Feeling Canadian: Television, Nationalism and Affect. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press.

In this book, Bouciurkiw draws upon the work of Foucault to explore how a sense of Canadian nationalism is developed. She argues that television, for instance, is an important means of constructing a sense of Canadianness, and it functions to “discipline” Canadians about dominant Canadian values. Such values, as she argues, are also exclusionary at times, as they are predicated upon dominant Euro-Canadian ideals of what constitutes Canadian identity.

Cochrane, Glynn. 1980. Policy Studies and Anthropology. Current Anthropology 21 (4):445-458.

We have a few definitions of policy “Policy is what governments do” or “policy is a parameter-setting activity”—politics is a struggle for power while policy guides decision making. Policy making is typically of short duration and tries to avert problems and solve others but it requires advocacy and measurement and effective information. For Cochrane, the key value that anthropologists bring are personalized approaches to theory and explains why of how people adapt to policies and changes.

Collier, George A. 1991. “Mesoamerican Anthropology: Between Production and Hegemony.” Latin American Research Review 26(2): 203–210.

Collier’s review of several recent works on Mesoamerican social systems argues that culture and human agency needs to be reintegrated into studies of indigenous and peasant groups. Cultural knowledge has shaped and continues to shape how Mesoamerican peoples work and live together. Ethnicity is examined as a key middle ground between production and hegemony. Cultural continuity and cultural change in the region cannot be truly understood without grasping the dialectic between production and hegemony.

Coombe, Rosemary J. 2007. “The Work of Rights at the Limits of Governmentality.” Anthropologica 49(2): 284–289.

Governmentality refers to anthropological approaches to issues such as citizenship and sovereignty, colonialism, land conflicts, and transnational labour migration. Anthropology has proven key to interdisciplinary discussions about governmentality. The author ties the anthropological study of human rights to questions about governmentality, an approach she sees as moral, political, and legal in nature.

Curtis, Bruce. 2001. The Politics of Population: State Formation, Statistics and the Census of Canada, 1840-1875. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

An application of Foucault’s governmentality to the creation of the census of Canada in the mid-19th century to illustrate the very political act of counting people, as “censuses are made, not taken.” It shows that with each passing decade the process adjusts to reflect concerns over French and English representation. Even though the Census process became more centralized and systematized after Confederation, the assertion of sovereign authority through the process and the controversies surrounding it would not abate.

Fleras, Augie. 2015. Immigration Canada: evolving realities and emerging challenges in a postnational world. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Fleras reviews the myth-making of immigration and citizenship in the Canadian context, providing a good overview of the existing system and how the economic and political aspects of belonging are shifting as the goals of a multicultural society shift to address global changes. In repositioning immigrant and multicultural governance models, Fleras highlights the challenges of transmigration and self-government narratives, providing several examples from the Canadian context and comparisons with Australia and the United States. The rise of “unbounded cosmopolitanism,” along with ethnicity, reflects the need to challenge monocultural perceptions of the nation-state and the relationship to identity.

Greenhouse, Carol J. 2005. “Hegemony and Hidden Transcripts: The Discursive Arts of Neoliberal Legitimation.” American Anthropologist 107: 356–368.

Greenhouse considers how discussions of hegemony and hidden transcripts tend to focus on resistance from below. Here, she considers resistance from above in the context of a 2001 Presidential order that established military trials for detainees charged with terrorism. The author’s goal is to contrast collective conscience with collective conscience in this provocative and still timely essay.

Hairong, Yan. 2003. “Neoliberal Governmentality and Neohumanism: Organizing Suzhi/Value Flow through Labor Recruitment Networks.” Cultural Anthropology 18(4): 493–523.

Hairong considers the Family Service Company, located in the Chinese City of Tianjin, and its social and economic role. As a hybrid private/public company, the Family Service Company is supposed to not only help move migrant women out of poverty, but also to develop their sushi, or quality. Hairong examines how such companies form a critical link, transferring value from an economic domain to one that embodies cultural capital.

Handler, Richard. 1988. Nationalism and the Politics of Culture in Quebec. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.

This ethnography is based upon Handler’s ethnographic fieldwork among Québécois separatists in the province of Quebec. Throughout, he argues that separatists seek to distinguish themselves as a distinct, ethnic “Québécois” group on the basis of such things as language, religion, and territoriality. Ultimately, Handler’s work demonstrates how many nations can exist under the rubric of the nation-state (or country).

Hanson, Paul W. 2007. “Governmentality, Language Ideology, and the Production of Needs in Malagasy Conservation and Development.” Cultural Anthropology 22(2): 244–284.

Hanson examines land rights for the Tanala, or People of the Forest, in Madagascar. One of four patrilineal clans in the hamlet of Ambodiaviavy is considered as having a binding relation to the land. Recently, this claim has been challenged by the national government, which has established a national park near the hamlet’s boundaries. The author contrasts the goals of integrating conservation and development in a way that satisfies resident needs.

Hedican, Edward J. 2008. Applied Anthropology in Canada: Understanding Aboriginal Issues. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

In this book, Hedican argues that applied anthropologists who are culturally sensitive to the needs of Aboriginal communities in Canada can help understand and ameliorate relationships between Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian government. Hedican focuses in particular upon political disputes over land claims in Canada.

Heyman, Josiah. 2004. “The Anthropology of Power-Wielding Bureaucracies.” Human Origin 63(4): 487–500.

Heyman quickly explains why it is necessary to study bureaucracies and bureaucratic power. Most anthropological studies have been more critical of organized power than achieving a practical understanding of organized power. The author suggests that anthropologists are well suited for studying bureaucratic agencies, because their work involves corporations, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations.

Horevitz, Elizabeth. 2009. “Understanding the Anthropology of Immigration and Migration.” Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment 19(6): 745–758.

Horevitz provides an overview of immigration and migration studies, which became important to anthropologists after the 1950s. This transpired because of extensive rural-to-urban migration noted across the world, especially in Africa and Central and South America. Several approaches to immigration and migration studies are presented, including those related to dependency, world systems, diaspora, border, and feminist perspectives. This article is a solid entry into an important subject.

Smith, Derek G. 1993. “The Emergence of ‘Eskimo Status’: An Examination of the Eskimo Disk List System and its Social Consequences, 1925–1970.” In Anthropology, Public Policy, and Native Peoples of Canada, edited by Noel Dyck and James Waldram, pp 41–74. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

In this chapter, Smith explores how Foucault’s notions of governmentality and discipline can be applied to an analysis of the various categorizations of Native peoples that are imposed upon particular populations by the Canadian government. Drawing upon historical and archival documentation, Smith looks at how and why certain groups were granted “Eskimo status” between 1925 and 1970, and how this status affected populations of Inuit in the Canadian arctic.

Smith, Gavin. 2004. “Hegemony: Critical Interpretations in Anthropology and Beyond.” Focaal 43: 99–120.

The author considers why attention to hegemony has varied in anthropology through the years. He notes that this is partly related to differing understandings of the concept. Smith further argues that hegemony is easier to see in retrospect—from a historical perspective. The author critically examines those individuals who have most influenced anthropologists in their understanding of hegemony.

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