Prospectus
Anthropologists, for use in teaching and to keep up with developments in the field, social scientists, academics in history, literature, women’s studies, etc., journalists, high school teachers in social studies, the general public who reads Psychology Today, Mother Jones, Adbusters, Wired, National Geographic, etc., professionals in design, entertainment, knowledge workers (such as corporation employees in management, sales, advertising) of all sorts, city planners, government employees.
We envision the journal being edited with the help of one full-time editor and a staff of university students. A university home base would facilitate hiring and involving students.
The working group is composed of Dean Birkenkamp, Don Brenneis, Joe Dumit, Susan Harding, Louise Lamphere, George Marcus, Emily Martin, Frances E. Mascia-Lees, Carolyne Quintana, Lorna Rhodes, Dan Segal, Ida Susser and Cara Thoresen.
We expect the magazine to exist independently of the AAA, but with various in kind exchanges.
| Add to existing media | Some of the traditional
subfields of anthropology, especially archaeology, human evolution, and
primatology, already enjoy a substantial presence in popular media (such
as the NYT Science Times practically every week). But, for whatever
reason, cultural anthropological approaches to current social issues do
not often get incorporated in existing media.
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| Newsworthy findings |
When conclusions that have long been anthropological staples, even in
introductory courses, are put into a form that is palatable to media
expectations, they do cause a stir. The recent excitement over a study
done by psychologists on the effects of different languages in relation to
different world views is a striking example. By stripping down the complex
issues to something simple enough to be captured in a quantifiable study,
these psychologists put their findings in a form that was deemed big news.
The news coverage of this research even included a condescending reference
to inept previous formulations of linguistic relativism made by cultural
anthropologists.
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| Enrich public sphere |
Much of the social value of a cultural anthropological approach to contemporary social problems is that it attempts to maintain an oblique perspective on mainstream common sense. By looking at received truths, comfortable and taken for granted "facts," the public sphere is enriched and the possibility of vigorous debate and critical inquiry into foundational assumptions more adequately preserved. Some examples include:
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| Counter stereotypes |
Cultural anthropology is often stereotyped, exoticized and practically
made into a joke in the media. Important controversies over theoretical
issues have been labeled "anthropological cannibalism" in recent
news articles. The idea that anthropology has theoretical and
methodological discussions with scholarly depth is ridiculed and the
debates trivialized (as in Eldorado reportage). Topics such as the lives
of the Yanomami or the Ju'\hoansi that cultural anthropology has decades
of scholarship to refer to is reduced to a battle of personalities or
political interest, as if it was based on nothing but the latest Daily
News bulletin. We need to try to publish our own controversies with
scholarly respect.
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| Offer unique perspective on current issues |
There are many current social issues about which cultural anthropologist have a unique perspective to offer. If this perspective were more accessible to the general public, it would enliven and enrich public debate. Some of these issues are:
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| Model on other disciplines |
Other disciplines have taken an active role in promoting public awareness of their social value. Although the interests of anthropology as a whole are fostered in many ways by the AAA, much more could be done by a committed and energetic group of cultural anthropologists. Some existing models would include Psychology Today, a mass market magazine with a large circulation, Science News, Anthropology Today, Radical Educators, Lingua Franca. Also there are many Newsletters on topics such as Women's Health that are targeted to the general public. Our sister discipline sociology has launched its own general interest magazine, called Contexts. |
Disciplines in the natural sciences have long benefited from magazines like Scientific American, The Smithsonian Magazine, or Natural History to increase public awareness of how science works and why it is valuable.
When new areas of scientific research arise, frequently cross-cutting established disciplines, their advocates have often wasted little time marshaling efforts to reach the public, to introduce magazines, radio shows, television shows, web sites, etc. into the mass media, in part to convey information newly discovered, but far more importantly, to introduce a wide public to the benefits of these new research efforts. The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, for example, promotes awareness and appreciation of research on the brain in the public sphere through its web site, a bi-monthly newsletter ("Brainwork"), a weekly research report, a monthly tabloid ("The Brain in the News"), a journal of ideas ("Cerebrum"), a regular series of radio broadcasts ("Gray Matters"), and a television series ("Exploring Your Brain"). It is time cultural anthropologists took a similarly active role in building a public base of support for the social worth of their research.
We will also consider working with people such as Brian Ferguson and others who have organized public conferences on controversial issues such as sociobiological theories or poverty in the US at the American Museum of Natural History, The NY Historical Society, The New York Academy of Sciences and The New York Academy of Medicine - ways to reach a broader audience of professionals or just educated citizens, that we could then publicize or publish in Culture Matters.
We are considering how to recruit grad students to help with this - they might be responsible to write updates on certain topics on a regular basis or to collect materials and review areas that they see as significant topics to be addressed, for example. So far, three graduate students have indicated an interest in helping, and have been actively involved.
Posted:
January 30, 2003
E. Martin, New York University
Copyright 2002
All rights reserved.