Anthropology Goes to War: Professional Ethics and Counterinsurgency in Thailand
by Eric Wakin
University of Wisconsin Press, 1998 Paper: 978-1-881261-03-2
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | EXCERPT | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
In 1970 a coalition of student activists opposing the Vietnam War circulated documents revealing the involvement of several prominent social scientists in U.S. counterinsurgency activities in Thailand—activities that could cause harm to the people who were the subject of the scholars’ research. The disclosure of these materials, which detailed meetings with the Agency for International Development and the Defense Department, prompted two members of the Ethics Committee of the American Anthropological Association to issue an unauthorized rebuke of the accused. Over the next two years, the AAA agonized over the allegations and the appropriate response to them. Within an academic community already polarized by the war, political and professional acrimony reached unprecedented levels. Although the association ultimately passed a code of ethics, the key issues raised in the process were never fully resolved.
Now back in print, Eric Wakin's Anthropology Goes to War is the first comprehensive study of what became known as the Thailand Controversy—and a timely reminder of a debate whose echoes may be heard in our own time.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Eric Wakin has M.A. degrees in Asian studies and political science. He has traveled extensively in Thailand and is now a PhD candidate in U.S. history at Columbia University.
REVIEWS
“At a time when the ethics of ethnography are again in question, Eric Wakin’s richly documented account of an earlier moment when the politics of anthropology was under scrutiny is particularly salient. . . . This book is must reading for students of Southeast Asian societies, for an older generation of anthropologists who think they know the story, and for a new generation that hasn’t heard it. It also addresses a wider audience of intellectuals concerned with the relationship between academic knowledge and political power.”—Ann Stoler, Willy Brandt Distinguished University Professor of Anthropology and Historical Studies, The New School for Social Research
“Conveys both a great deal of information and clear judgment that can serve as a welcome starting point for revisiting the Thailand controversy.”—Andrew Turton, The Journal of Asian Studies
“Wakin's resurrection of this conflict reminds us of the ethical issues involved in undertaking contract work for the government. . . . Anthropology Goes to War raises the essential questions, provides plenty of material for debate, and would be a useful addition to classes dealing with field work and professional ethics.”—W. Randall Ireson, American Ethnologist
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
List of Tables & Appendices
List of Acronyms
Acknowledgements
1
Introduction
2
Theoretical & Historical Background
Development/Modernization Theory
Colonial Applied Anthropology
U.S. Government Interest in Applied Social Science Research
Project Camelot: A Dry Run for Controversy
Ethical Guidelines of the American Anthropological Association
3
IDA & The Thailand Study Group
Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA)
Thailand Study Group
4
ARPA & AIR in Thailand
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)
American Institutes for Research Project (AIR)
5
USAID, AACT & SEADAG—Planning for Insurgency
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Research Division of USOM
Southeast Asia Development Advisory Group (SEADAG)
USAID Contract with UCLA
Academic Advisory Council for Thailand (AACT) Meetings
Research Projects of AACT Members
6
AAA Investigation
Release of the Thailand Controversy Documentst
Anthropologists' Responses & Campus Reactions
Call for Investigation of Members of AAA Ethics Committee
Statement of Wolf-Chaired Ethics Committee
Suttles-Chaired Ethics Committee Report
Thailand Controversy in Australia
Case of the “Lone Dissenter”
Mead Committee
7
The Aftermath
Appendices
Bibliography
EXCERPT Thai villager: What kinds of questions are you going to ask us? . . . .You are not going to take the names of villagers and tell the police that we are communists, are you? We would die, if you did. . . . We are very much afraid of communists. . . . .we have never seen them. . . .
Researcher: If you don't know about communists, why are you afraid of them?
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Anthropology Goes to War: Professional Ethics and Counterinsurgency in Thailand
by Eric Wakin
University of Wisconsin Press, 1998 Paper: 978-1-881261-03-2
In 1970 a coalition of student activists opposing the Vietnam War circulated documents revealing the involvement of several prominent social scientists in U.S. counterinsurgency activities in Thailand—activities that could cause harm to the people who were the subject of the scholars’ research. The disclosure of these materials, which detailed meetings with the Agency for International Development and the Defense Department, prompted two members of the Ethics Committee of the American Anthropological Association to issue an unauthorized rebuke of the accused. Over the next two years, the AAA agonized over the allegations and the appropriate response to them. Within an academic community already polarized by the war, political and professional acrimony reached unprecedented levels. Although the association ultimately passed a code of ethics, the key issues raised in the process were never fully resolved.
Now back in print, Eric Wakin's Anthropology Goes to War is the first comprehensive study of what became known as the Thailand Controversy—and a timely reminder of a debate whose echoes may be heard in our own time.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Eric Wakin has M.A. degrees in Asian studies and political science. He has traveled extensively in Thailand and is now a PhD candidate in U.S. history at Columbia University.
REVIEWS
“At a time when the ethics of ethnography are again in question, Eric Wakin’s richly documented account of an earlier moment when the politics of anthropology was under scrutiny is particularly salient. . . . This book is must reading for students of Southeast Asian societies, for an older generation of anthropologists who think they know the story, and for a new generation that hasn’t heard it. It also addresses a wider audience of intellectuals concerned with the relationship between academic knowledge and political power.”—Ann Stoler, Willy Brandt Distinguished University Professor of Anthropology and Historical Studies, The New School for Social Research
“Conveys both a great deal of information and clear judgment that can serve as a welcome starting point for revisiting the Thailand controversy.”—Andrew Turton, The Journal of Asian Studies
“Wakin's resurrection of this conflict reminds us of the ethical issues involved in undertaking contract work for the government. . . . Anthropology Goes to War raises the essential questions, provides plenty of material for debate, and would be a useful addition to classes dealing with field work and professional ethics.”—W. Randall Ireson, American Ethnologist
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
List of Tables & Appendices
List of Acronyms
Acknowledgements
1
Introduction
2
Theoretical & Historical Background
Development/Modernization Theory
Colonial Applied Anthropology
U.S. Government Interest in Applied Social Science Research
Project Camelot: A Dry Run for Controversy
Ethical Guidelines of the American Anthropological Association
3
IDA & The Thailand Study Group
Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA)
Thailand Study Group
4
ARPA & AIR in Thailand
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)
American Institutes for Research Project (AIR)
5
USAID, AACT & SEADAG—Planning for Insurgency
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Research Division of USOM
Southeast Asia Development Advisory Group (SEADAG)
USAID Contract with UCLA
Academic Advisory Council for Thailand (AACT) Meetings
Research Projects of AACT Members
6
AAA Investigation
Release of the Thailand Controversy Documentst
Anthropologists' Responses & Campus Reactions
Call for Investigation of Members of AAA Ethics Committee
Statement of Wolf-Chaired Ethics Committee
Suttles-Chaired Ethics Committee Report
Thailand Controversy in Australia
Case of the “Lone Dissenter”
Mead Committee
7
The Aftermath
Appendices
Bibliography
EXCERPT Thai villager: What kinds of questions are you going to ask us? . . . .You are not going to take the names of villagers and tell the police that we are communists, are you? We would die, if you did. . . . We are very much afraid of communists. . . . .we have never seen them. . . .
Researcher: If you don't know about communists, why are you afraid of them?
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | EXCERPT | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE