adambohannon

I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before, when I heard about the United States Department of Homeland Security searching the computer contents of returning US citizens from abroad (1, 2). I originally thought it was ludicrous, of course, watching my rights dissolve as the myth of relentless and omnipresent terror seeped further into my (our) personal life. But for some reason it didn’t cross my mind that my future research as an anthropologist would be compromised by the unbridled fears, stoked by incessant media sensationalization, that have found their symbolic explanation in the specter of terrorism—a specter that places those fears in a meaningful, intelligible context (and is ripe for exploitation).

Anthropological research, as it was taught to me, is built first and foremost upon the foundations of trust between the anthropologist and her cultural informants (read: friends). Our intentions are not those of detached observers but engaged participants. It is in attempting to experience the lives of our friends from their point of view and on their own terms that anthropologists try to make well-informed interpretations about the human condition. With a healthy degree of relativism, systemic understanding, and holistic thinking, anthropology is indispensable in cultural analysis and the Orwellian stage set by the enforcement of the Patriot Act will only serve to undermine this effort and ultimately any attempt at understanding our brothers and sisters all over the world. Whereas anthropology is trying (or should be trying) to forge connections between the peoples of the world and increase cross-cultural awareness and understanding, the Patriot Act is breaking those connections to leave us festering in an isolationist cesspool, consuming ourselves under the (hollow) slogan of “freedom.” Fear mongering and xenophobia are anything but free, and they won’t be satisfied until we cannibalize every last bit of humanity we each have within us.  I mean, God forbid we attempt to understand “radical” Islam. (I’m sure this last sentence labels me a traitor since I don’t hate with blind furor what I don’t fully understand.)

The searching of computer contents is disturbing on many levels. From listening attentively to anthropologists I deeply respect, I’ve realized anthropological fieldwork isn’t always the most pleasurable experience, and that sometimes it can be absolutely viscerally disturbing. You may (and probably will) be confronted with conflicting cultural values and paradoxes around every corner that leave you feeling helpless and perhaps even hating yourself because you can’t reconcile the battle between your belief in some sense of cultural relativism on the one hand and your deeply held personal beliefs on the other. But the personal turmoil aside, most importantly you may also witness events that could prove dangerous to the people you 1) are indebted to and 2) took an oath to “do no harm” to if accounts of those events fell into the wrong hands without proper understanding. Government officials aren’t the only ones responsible for classified information, nor should they be. And, frankly, government officials without anthropological training shouldn’t be responsible for interpreting anthropological research. If we allow our government to treat us like misbehaving step-children we will be the architects of our own demise, not to mention doing so will stifle serious scientific research or any attempt at understanding the world around us for that matter.

If it sounds like I’m grandstanding, maybe I am. But I’m tired of ceding my rights to the policies of an administration that has consistently lied to us. Thoughts?

Tagged: anthropology, DHS, law, patriot act, privacy, rant, research, traveling