Category Archives: applied anthropology

alter-globalization, Anthropology, applied anthropology, cellphones, cult of personality, cultural awareness, economics, Education, education systems, enthusiasm, Ethnography, globalization, groupthink, hegemony, iPhone, naïve, naïveté, Nation-States, OLPC, One Laptop Per Child, optimism, technology, troubleshooting approach, United States

Optimism From OLPC

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To say the least, I’ve been ambivalent about the One Laptop Per Child project. And I was not alone in my OLPC discomfort.

But now, I feel optimistic. Not about the OLPC project. But because that project is enabling something important.

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Africa, alter-globalization, applied anthropology, creativity, cultural diversity, development, development strategies, economics, Empowerment, Ethnography, globalization, humanism, innovation, market economy, optimism, ramblings, rants, social change, stereotypes, success in life, technology

African Ingenuity

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Via BoingBoing.

Who says Africans lack business acumen?

(Actually, such methods of empowerment are quite common, throughout Africa. And many Africans are rightfully proud of being able to manage by themselves. When will people from OECD “nations” get this?)

Anthropology, applied anthropology, cultural diversity, linguistic anthropology

Native American Languages and Aliens

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A short podcast episode on Longfellow and Hiawatha. That podcast is usually on artificial languages. What's interesting here, apart from the reference to anthropologists, is the notion of cross-cultural communication. Actually, the episode is rather culturally-sensitive. Even the title ("Being the Alien") and some comments at the end of the episode does connect science-fiction with (Earth) anthropology.

Anthropology, applied anthropology, cultural anthropology, U.S. politics

Anthropologists and Foreign Policy

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Maureen Dowd NYT Didn’t See It Coming, Again (via The Neil Rogers Show)

One smart anthropologist reinforcing the idea that “mirroring” – assuming other cultures think like us – doesn’t work would be a lot more helpful than all of the discredited intelligence agencies . . .

So, the psychological concept of projection applied to cultural contacts. Not sure which anthropologist coined the term but it does make sense in an anthropological context.

The piece as a whole is rather typical NYT op-ed. Still, it’s interesting to see references to applied anthropology in such a context.