Applied Anthropology and Ethics

Picture: quote by John Van Willigen stating, “Applied anthropology is simply anthropology put to
use.”

Applied anthropology is taking anthropological methods and knowledge and applying them to
solving human problems. In this module we will look at applied anthropology in the context of
transnationalism and globalization. In the next module we will look at it in the context of
medical anthropology. When doing applied anthropology ethics become even more important
to pay attention to so that as researchers we are careful to not impose our cultural beliefs and
practices on others under the guise of “helping them” become more like us, which would be the
result of ethnocentrism (since we are implying that our culture is better since we want to teach
them to be like us to solve their “problems”). It is important to only provide help that is asked for
by the people themselves and to work with them to find solutions to their problems rather than
coming in and telling them that you have the solution for them and compelling them to follow your
ideas without their input.

This ties in with the discussion of ethical research that we covered in the Fieldwork topic, so
let’s quickly review some highlights from that section. Remember that ethical research starts with
the idea that the anthropologist should not harm the people that s/he works with in any way. This
means using a consent form so that people know they are participating in a research project, what
that entails and that they have the right to determine if they will participate and to what extent. We
protect confidentiality and do not record people without their knowledge or consent. Additionally,
we are careful what we publish so that we do not harm people by making certain information
public. When we work in applied settings, these protections are sometimes even more important
since the research is going to be applied in some way that will most likely impact their lives.
There is considerable debate among anthropologists about what type of applied work is ethical.
For example, as discussed in the readings, one of your exercises and below, some
anthropologists work with the military during war situations. Some see this as helpful while others
see this as unethical and contributing to a war (see below for more details). Another area of
concern for anthropologists is helping businesses market their goods to specific cultural or ethnic
groups. This is seen by some as manipulative and helping a business make a profit off a
particular group, while others see this as helping people access goods and services that they may
be interested in. However, generally it is seen as fine for anthropologists to educate business
people (and even the military) on proper cultural etiquette such as greetings, meal practices,
gender interactions, etcetera through cultural competency courses to prevent them from
making a faux pas (see more below). There isn’t a specific answer to these issues where one
can definitively say this type of work is either clearly “good” or clearly “bad”; like everything
cultural, it depends on who is involved, what they are doing specifically and for what purpose.
Additionally, it is important to take the emic views of the people themselves into account before
making judgements.

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Applied Anthropology
The video and discussion about Walmart, globalization and consumerism in the last module may
have inspired some of you to ask what you can do about these issues. If we look at this from an
applied anthropology perspective, where one takes the knowledge and skills of an
anthropologist and applies them to solving human issues, we can examine possible solutions to
various concerns that arise from current transnational economic practices.

Picture: Money = Power with money in the background.

As a consumer, you have power – one type of power you have is the power to "vote with your
dollar." This means that you have the power to decide where you spend your money and on
what. Your spending impacts the profit and loss of companies. You can tell a company through a
letter that you don't like their policies or practices and that you will not purchase their products or
shop at their store unless and until they change their practices and policies. If enough people do
this, it will have an impact and the companies will respond since they are in business to make a
profit and if people don't buy their goods/services they won't make a profit. If you are interested in
researching more about retailers and manufacturers there are couple of websites to get you
started, there are many more that you can research on your own, if you find a good one, send it
on to me (disclaimer: I am not endorsing these sites or vouching for their accuracy; I am only
passing them on for your information, it is up to you to use them as you see fit):

Betterworldshopper.com

This site provides a search for companies based on company category (i.e., food, clothing, etc.),
the grade they received (i.e., A or B) or key words (like a company name). You can see what
grade a company has and use that to decide if you want to buy their product, or shop there. Their
grade breakdown, which is provided above the search, explains what the grades mean. There is
more information above the search including the key issues and a list of the best and worst
companies based on those issues. Keep in mind that this should be a starting point as I am not
sure how frequently they update their site, so the information could be old. Additionally, they do
not tell you specifics about why a company has the grade they say (so again, more research
would be helpful).

It also sells a guidebook to companies and their stance/practices on various issues such as
human rights, animal rights, etcetera, but you may be able to find this information for yourself if
you do google searches. Reading the info on the site will help you see what the issues are.

Goodguide.com (closed now, but could come back, so I am keeping here for now)

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This free site was created by a Berkeley professor and will help you determine if products meet
your value standards. It also has a feature where you can create a filter of your values and
whenever you shop online the filter will show you how it rates with your selections.

Voting
Voting with your dollar is just one avenue to change that you have. Others include registering to
vote, and then actually voting. Many politicians expect people in their 20s to be apathetic and not
vote so they don't consider your values or ideas as important because if you don't vote, they
aren't. So, prove them wrong and vote – make sure you are an informed voter by going to non-
partisan spaces to find out the information on the candidates and issues. Another important power
you have is to write to your congress people.

Not sure who they are or how to contact them? Use this site:
Vote Smart site
http://votesmart.org/
phone: 888-votesmart – a live person will answer your questions about your representatives and
their positions on different topics.

Picture: Blue and Red background with stars and statement “Your Voice, Your Vote”.

This site will give you access to your representatives and how to contact them - their phone
number, fax number and an email contact page link that you click on to send them an email,
etcetera. You put in your zip code or your home address and the list will appear. You click on
the person you want to look at and then click on one of the folders under the search bar (i.e.
bio, votes, positions, etcetera) to get more information. If the information or process is
overwhelming for you, they provide a phone number (888-votesmart) that you can call to ask a
live person for the information you are looking for. Pretty easy and powerful…some researchers
say that for every letter (email) they receive it counts as 250 since they know that not all people
take the time to write. Phone calls also count more than emails and letters, so if you feel really
passionate about something, call your congressperson about it.
You can also get involved in political campaigns that you believe in. Find organizations to
volunteer with that support causes that you agree with. Create your own organization of like-
minded people to be politically involved. It doesn’t have to be big commitments if you don’t feel
you have that much time, do what you can and you will contribute to making the world a better
place (according to your values).

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 Another site that is available to help you find your representatives and who is on a committee
and so forth is “Contacting the Congress Former Website Information” at
http://physics.mnstate.edu/cabanela/contacting_the_congress_shutdown.php

This site has a wealth of information (and includes a link to votesmart) that can help you find
important information on who your representatives are and so forth. It was created after another
site was shut down that used to provide similar information. Check it out to help you connect
with your government and let your voice be heard.
Some other sites for finding the contact information for your congress representatives are these
links:
US Senate: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

House of Representatives:
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Gov. Track:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members

Register to vote at this link:

http://registertovote.ca.gov/

Voting in all elections is critical for your voice to be heard (the presidential, and mid-term
elections– for congress representatives and state and local laws, and other local elections).
Many people do not vote in the mid-term elections since they are not electing the president, but
these elections are also important. Mid-term elections elect your congressional
representatives and they make the laws that we live by, so it is essential to participate in these
elections too.

Some people believe that their vote doesn’t matter since they believe that others will vote the
way they would. However, you don’t really know how others will vote, you only know how you
will vote; so if you throw your vote away by not voting or by voting in a “protest” vote (voting for
someone who can’t win, or voting for an animal for example) you silence your vote and take your
voice away. Additionally, if enough people do this it can turn the outcome of the election to
someone else and not the candidate you thought would win. For this reason, it is also important
to not follow the polls that project winners before the vote (and sometimes during the voting) as
they are not necessarily correct. These polls are trying to predict the outcome, but they
sometimes make mistakes (look at the polls that said Trump couldn’t possibly win in 2016 – they
were obviously not correct since he did win and they may have influenced some people to not
vote or to do a “protest” vote where they didn’t vote for either Clinton or Trump because they
didn’t like either of them). Many people struggled, suffered and fought to give us the right to vote,
especially if you are a woman, a person of color or someone who comes from a background of
poverty. They did this because they understood the power of the vote – don’t give up your
power by not voting. If you are a voter you also have a voice with your representatives in
congress, state legislature and local (i.e., city and county) politicians since you can decide not to
vote for those who do not share your values or do things you disagree with. These people
represent you, and you need to hold them accountable – tell them what issues are important to
you and what you want to see happen. Keep in mind you need to be reasonable as well and
understand that their power only goes so far, so don’t ask them to do things that they cannot do
and then get mad at them for not doing what you wanted. Also, look at the big picture, if they

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cover most of your ideals but not all of them, they may still be a good candidate for you since
they hold many of your views. No one will probably be the perfect candidate (and if they are, be
careful, since they may not be truthful or trustworthy…they may just be telling you what you want
to hear) so go with the one who most closely matches what you believe and want to see done.

Picture: Critical thinking collage.

Source: http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/topic/critical-thinking

Use your critical thinking skills to help you discern false information/news from real
information/news. Be careful of posts on social media that support your ideas too since those
can also be false. Look at the source, and then do some research on your own before you
get drawn into false ideas or hyped up emotions that take you out of a rational and logical
state of mind where you can make better decisions. Keep in mind that it is not illegal for
political ads to lie…and once lies are out in the public ear they are hard to get rid of;
additionally, research shows that if a lie is repeated enough people will start to believe it.
Use fact checking sites like snopes.com or factcheck.org as resources to check to see if
stories are factual or not.

“Doing Business Abroad?”

One of the areas of applied anthropology is helping businesses learn about other cultures that
want to work with. Cultural anthropologists teach cultural competency classes to educate
people about how to avoid Faux Pas or mistakes in another culture. A Faux Pas is “a slip or
blunder in etiquette, manners or conduct” (CUS 396). Remember in the linguistics
section how we looked at the different meaning gestures had depending on the culture that it was
found in? If you are doing business in another country, that type of information could be very
useful so that you don’t insult your potential business partners.

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 Picture: Street intersection with “correct” on one side and “incorrect” on the other.
Source: https://anetteiren.com/how-to-resist-manipulation-part-2/

These can also be linked to culture shock since mistakes occur a lot when learning a new
culture, particularly during the disenchantment phase. People from the US tend to be too
informal when they go to other cultures, which can cause many of the misunderstandings or
shocking behavior toward others. A couple of examples from the article include President Bush
using a curse word when speaking to the British Prime Minister and giving the German Chancellor
Angela Merkel a shoulder rub while she spoke to the Italian Prime Minister (see picture below)
(CUS 396). Another example was a businessman who started off his meetings with Thai
businesspeople by talking about business. In the US this would be fine, but in Thailand this is not
how you begin a business interaction; first you have lunch and then you let them begin the
business portion of the talks (CUS 397). Asking a Scottish person about his wife and children
was also not appropriate, it was however, a great start to ask about the weather. These represent
cultural differences in etiquette and manners and affect how others see each other (this is where
that idea of “common sense” can cause problems as well since most of these practices are seen
as common sense in the culture in which they are found, so it is particularly shocking and
offensive when these mistakes are made). It can make the person making the Faux Pas look like
they are not that intelligent, or that they are rude, arrogant or ignorant; these negative portrayals
do not help in business negotiations.

Picture: George Bush giving German Chancellor Angela Merkel a shoulder rub, her body
language indicating that she is uncomfortable and her shrugging it off in last picture.
Source: http://www.11points.com/News-
Politics/11_Best_Hand_Gestures_of_the_Bush_Presidency

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The article “Chinese Table Manners: You Are How You Eat” also looks at manners about eating in
China. For instance, do they consider breakfast a meal? What food is essential for a meal to be
considered a meal? There are many cultural rules around eating that indicate whether or not you
have manners, and these are often taken very seriously. One of the most serious rules is to not
put your chopsticks upright in your rice bowl as that symbolizes death (see the link below for more
on this). If you are familiar with Chinese culture, feel free to share with the class whether or not
the article and information is correct (keep in mind that there is always cultural variation so it could
be correct in some places in China and not in others, or perhaps the culture has changed, so it
may have been true in the past, but not any longer).

Picture: bowl of rice with chopsticks upright and a big red X across it indicating that this is not
correct.
Source: http://www.yoyochinese.com/blog/learn-Mandarin-Chinese-7-culture-faux-pas-chopsticks-
two-hands

If you are interested in learning more about Faux Pas in China, see this link:
http://www.yoyochinese.com/blog/learn-Mandarin-Chinese-7-culture-faux-pas-chopsticks-two-
hands

These differences would be “taken – for – granted” in the culture that they originate from, but to an
outsider, they are not even known, which sets them up for making blunders. Mistakes like these
can range from causing embarrassment to being offensive and they can cost a company a
business deal. Cultural competency classes taught by anthropologists can help
businesspeople avoid these mistakes and thus, help them keep their deals. This is an important
area of applied anthropology.

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 Army’s New Troops Are Anthropologists

Picture: Military personnel in the desert visiting troops, with some of them taking pictures of the event.
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_Troop_visit.jpg

This article examines the role of anthropologists working with the military. Anthropologists doing
this type of work are an example of applied anthropology where they apply their knowledge and
skills to solving human problems, in this case they are helping the military with their jobs. Due to
the nature of military work, this is a complex issue with many pros and cons that need to be
explored. Some believe that an anthropologist working with the military is an important job that
with many positive outcomes. Others see this work from a negative perspective and don’t believe
that they should do it; in fact, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) has put out a
statement telling anthropologists to not do this type of work and to boycott it.

Militarizing Anthropology or Anthropologizing the Military?

Pros
Even though some researchers do not think that this type of work should be performed, others
point out that there are many pros for anthropologists working with the military. The most
important one is the reduction of combat operations which allow soldiers to focus on other issues
such as enhancing security, health care and education for the local people. This research also
helps each side shift their perspective from seeing people as enemies, to seeing them as fellow
humans, which provides another avenue to reducing conflict and violence. For instance,
anthropology helps soldiers to humanize the people they encounter instead of just seeing them as
the enemy. In this case, it allows soldiers to see the emic view of the Afghans rather than just
their etic view of the situation, helping them to understand each other better. Anthropology can
also increase the soldiers’ understanding of local issues which can result in the soldiers building a
better relationship and reputation with the locals by assisting them with their dilemmas. For
example, there was one village with a high number of widows which put financial pressure on their
young sons to help support the family. Many would join the Taliban since they were well funded,
and this would allow the sons to provide much needed income for the family. When the military
found out about this situation, they were able to help the widows with employment so that the
young men didn’t have to join the Taliban to support their families; thus, reducing the number who
joined that organization.

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 Picture: Helicopter gunner looking out of the side door on the helicopter flying over a village in
Afghanistan.
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Army_53633_Troops_re-
position_to_better_protect_Afghan_people.jpg

Cons

Anthropologists have worked for the military and government in the past; for instance, many
worked for the war effort during World War II in trying to understand the cultures and personalities
of the opposition to try to gain an advantage in the war. Additionally, they worked to help keep
morale up in the United States during the war. They also worked with the military and
government during the Vietnam War and in various operations and situations in Latin America.
These previous experiences are viewed negatively by many in the discipline of anthropology
today.

Some argue that this type of employment has negative consequences for the discipline such as
making anthropologists look like government spies and information gatherers for the CIA or other
government agencies. This weakens the position of the anthropologists working as researchers
since it can affect our ethics and the image that others have of us. It can also be dangerous to
the anthropologists as well as the soldiers who are charged with protecting them. A previous
student of mine who was in the military said that it was a concern for soldiers to be traveling with
non-military trained civilians as they could create situations where they and the troops may be
harmed, captured or killed. He felt it would be better to have the anthropologists teach the
soldiers what they needed to know at the base rather than being there in the middle of the combat
area. This would work for some information, but this would not work if the anthropologist needed
to conduct fieldwork to get the information that would help the current situation, such as the
widows and recruitment of their sons by the Taliban.

Another important concern about anthropologists doing this type of work is that they do not own or
control the data that is collected; this is true whenever an anthropologist works for someone else.
This means that they cannot always follow ethical rules of research and protect confidentiality
or make sure that they are not collecting data that will be used to harm the people they are
working with. If you saw the movie Avatar, you can see a fictional example of how someone
doing research and collecting data for a military operation leads to harm of the people not

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intended by the researchers. Therefore “…some [anthropologists] denounce the program as
‘mercenary anthropology’ that exploits social science for political gain” (CUS 384).

Picture: Newsweek picture of a person in military clothing writing notes in a notebook observing a
crowd of people in Iraq.
Source:
http://www.antropologi.info/blog/anthropology/2008/cooperation_between_the_pentagon_and_ant

Should Anthropologists Do This Type of Work?

There is no single correct answer to this question. Each individual anthropologist (and person)
will need to answer this for him/herself. Some argue that the benefits of reduced combat,
violence and death outweigh any negative consequences. Others contend that if you do this work
it will damage the whole discipline’s reputation, not just the image of the individual anthropologist
performing it; thus, making it difficult, if not impossible, for anthropologists to do research in the
future. I think that it needs to be examined on a case by case basis and that some type of
contractual agreement needs to be in place that will allow the anthropologist to protect the ethical
commands of anthropology while helping the military reduce the conflicts in the combat zones.

Lesson Summary

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Picture: Anthropologists working with a local community as an example of applied anthropology.

Applied anthropology is where anthropological knowledge and skills are applied to solving
human problems. Anthropologists working for the military is an example of this type of
anthropology. There are pros and cons to this employment.

Consumer ethics and responsibility becomes an important element in our global economy that
pushes cheaper labor for lower prices which often leads to highly exploitive practices. This
includes low wages, long working hours, unsafe working conditions, environmental damage, and
slavery (see more in previous module). Consumers can influence company practices through
their purchasing patterns and writing to companies. Another influence that people have is to
communicate with their congressional representatives and the US president as well as registering
to vote and voting in all elections. These are avenues of political power.

Applied anthropology is examined through various examples of this work such as helping the
military reduce conflict in war zones. Cultural competency classes can help businesses avoid
Faux Pas’ in their dealing with businesses in other cultures. Other types of applied anthropology
will be explored in the next module within the context of medical anthropology.

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