[URBANTH-L] BOOK: Waterson, ed., An Anthropology of War: Views from the Frontline

[Benito Vergara]

New Book Announcement

AN ANTHROPOLOGY OF WAR
Views from the Frontline
Edited by Alisse Waterston

Contributors:
Avram Bornstein, Paul E. Farmer, R. Brian Ferguson, Lesley Gill,
Beatriz Manz, Carolyn Nordstrom, Stephen Reyna, Jose N. Vasquez

It is sobering, but also provocative to look at war from the viewpoint
of anthropologists, especially those who have had the unique
experience of being in zones of war. These essays bring special
insights, but also a passion missing in the usual journalistic
accounts or scholarly reflections. The writers in this volume not only
enlarge our perspective but move us emotionally - a rare and admirable
combination."  -- Howard Zinn

As we move deeper into the twenty-first century, power, lethal force,
and injustice continue to explode violently into war, and the
prospects for lasting peace look even bleaker. The horrors of modern
warfare - the death, dehumanization, and destruction of social and
material infrastructures - have done little to bring an end to armed
conflict. In this volume, leading chroniclers of war provide
thoughtful and powerful essays that reflect on their ethnographic work
at the frontlines. The contributors recount not only what they have
seen and heard in war zones but also what is being read, studied,
analyzed and remembered in such diverse locations as Colombia and
Guatemala, Israel and Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Haiti. In
detailed reports from the field, they reflect on the important issue
of "accountability" and offer explanations to discern causes,
patterns, and practices of war. Through this unique lens, the
contributors provide the insight and analysis needed for a deeper
understanding of one of the greatest issues of our times.

http://www.berghahnbooks.com/title.php?rowtag=WaterstonAnthropology