violence in war and peace
TRANSCRIPT
7/17/2019 Violence in War and Peace
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Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology by Nancy Scheper-Hughes; Philippe BourgoisReview by: Peter BensonAnthropological Quarterly, Vol. 78, No. 1 (Winter, 2005), pp. 289-292Published by: The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic ResearchStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4150902 .
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7/17/2019 Violence in War and Peace
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BOOK
REVIEW
Peter
Benson
HarvardUniversity
NancyScheper-Hughes
nd
Philippe
Bourgois eds.),
Violence
n
War nd
Peace:
An
Anthology.
Oxford:
Blackwell
Publishers,
004,
496
pp.
Violence
in
War nd
Peace:
An
Anthology rings ogether
62
essays
by
50
authors and a
lengthy
introduction
by
the
editors,
Nancy
Scheper-
Hughes
and
Philippe Bourgois.
Seasoned
ethnographers
and
leading
researchers
n
the fields
of
political
and medical
anthropology,
he editors
share a commitment o
politicaladvocacy
and
teaching.
Their brandof
anthropology
s
driven
by
a
passion
or
becoming
hickly
nd
tensely
nvolved
inand
lending
n
ethnographic
oiceto
pressing
ocial
problems.
Thevolume
is a fine
example
of
this
commitmento
ethnography.
t
showcases
he
great
relevance
of
ethnographic
research
and
writing-compared
to other
approaches-for
hinking
boutviolenceand
suffering.
This
collection
will
be
an invaluable
esource
or
teachers
and
learners,
comprehensive
nthology
for
introductory
lasses,
or
a
companion
olume or more
n-depth
eminars.
The
ntroduction,
ike
he
volume
tself,
s
divided nto 11
sections
hat deal
with
different
ypes
of violence:
genocide,complicity
nd
blame,
communal
and
state-sponsored
iolence,
revolution
nd social
upheaval,
rime, orture,
gendered
violence,
colonialism
nd
conquest.
This
volume
is difficultread-
ing-not
so
muchdenseor
turgid
but
wounding,roubling,
or
the reader
will
find
some
of
the best
attempts
f the last
century
o
translate
he
pain,
uncer-
289
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7/17/2019 Violence in War and Peace
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Nancy
cheper-Hughes
nd
Philippe
ourgois
eds.)
Violence
n
War ndPeace:
An
Anthology
tainty,
and
absurdity
f violence nto
an at
least somewhatunderstandable
format.
We
ind that
it
is
our
very
ackof
clarity
boutviolence hat
empow-
ers
us
to
try
to understandts
many
aces.
It,
he editors
ay
of
violence,
s
ambulant nd
multivalent,
ever
ully
within
our
grasp.
Yet
he
editorsdo succeed
n
developing
ynthetic
laimsaboutwhat
vio-
lence
is,
how it
works,
nd whatwe can
do
about t.
First,
ike
produces
ike,
violence
begets
violence.Violence
ntensifies,
ometimes
xponentially,
ome-
times
gradually.
tructural
iolence,
uchas extreme
poverty,
antranslate
nto
more ntimate
r
domestic
ormsof
violence.Political
iolence
uelsand
eeds
on
symbolic
iolence
whereby
ollective
enses of
blame,victimization,
nd
marginalizationreembodiedandreproducednsignsystems.Second,what
is
namedviolence s
a
matter f
perspective,
epending
n
historical
onven-
tions,
consolidations
f
knowledge
nd
power,
ultural
epresentations,
nd
the
media.
Particular cts
of
violence
can
alternatively
e
perceived
as
depraved, lorious,
ensible,
or insane.
Third,
he most
compelling rgument
of the
volume,
violence
s
a social
process.
One
perspective
hat
is
rejected
from he
beginning
s a
commonsense,
eductive iew
of violence
as
socio-or
psychobiological.
hether
r
not violence
s
hard-wired,
enetic
or
hormon-
al is neitheras interestingoras urgent,he editorswrite,as the very uman
face
of
violence
3).
Readers
will find
that
it is
this dimension
hat
gives
vio-
lence its
meaning
and force.
Understanding
hy people
kill and do violence
involves
understanding
ocialworlds
s
political
nd historical
roducts.
Most f the
chapters
re written
by
cultural
nthropologists,
r
at
leastare
ethnographically
riented.
Besidesthe
editors,
we
read Michael
Taussig,
Veena
Das,
Paul
Farmer,
mong
others.
Yet
he
ethnographic
oice
does not
stand
alone,
and a short reviewcannot
do
justice
to the
range
of
genres,
methodologies,
nd
viewpoints
ound herein.Oneneed
onlyperuse
he table
of
contents
o
get
a sense
of
the
variety.
ournalistic
ieces,
uch
as the
haunt-
ing
selection rom
Philip
Gourevitch'sWeWish
To
Inform
YouThatTomorrow
WeWillBe KilledWithOur
Families,
hichdescribes
Rwanda
enocide
xperi-
ences,
are
set
alongside
iction,
such as
the
excerpt
rom
Joseph
Conrad's
Heart
of
Darkness
hat
opens
the
volume
or
some
George
Orwell.There s a
selectionon
The
Gray
one rom
PrimoLevi's
masterpiece,
he
Drownednd
the
Saved,
heoretical
piecesby Agamben,Fanon,
Bourdieu
nd
Scarry,
nd
even a
couple
of cartoon selections
from
the famous art-text
by
Art
Spiegelman,
Maus:
A
Survivor'sTale.
The editors end the introduction
by
arguing
forcefully
hat
ethnographers
and
other researchers
have a
responsibility
o become witnesses o violence.
290
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PETER ENSON
Anthropological
itnessing bviously
ositions
he
anthropologist
nside
human vents
s a
responsive,
eflexive,
nd
morally
r
politically
ommit-
ted
being,
a
person
who
canbe
counted
n to
take ides when
necessary
and to eschew he
privileges
f
neutrality.
his
tance lies
directly
n the
faceof
academic
on-engagement.
he
gift
of the
ethnographer
emains,
however,
ome
combination
f
thick
description,
ye-witnessing,
nd rad-
ical
uxtaposition
ased
on cross-cultural
nsight.
In
the
end,
the
editors'
aim is
clear:
to
put
ourselves
and our
discipline
squarely
on the
side of
humanity,world-saving,
nd
world-repair,
ven
thoughwe maynotalwaysbe certainaboutexactlywhatthismeansor what
is
being
asked
of us
at
any
particular
moment
26-27).
Yet
hereare
some
problems
with
this
emphasis
n
witnessing.
irst,
he
editors
only briefly
discuss he dilemmas
nvolved
n
writing
violence.When
does
a
portrayal
f
violencebecome
sensational,
or
example?
Are here
good
and
bad
ways
o
witness?
How
does one
emphasize
he
deep ambiguities
hat
characterize
ituations
of
violence
and
yet
also
take
ides,
accentuate
he
overwhelminguncertainty
of
violence-the
gray
zone-and
yet
identify
world-savingthicalorientations?
Second,
here
s not
really
discussion
f how he
personal
moral
ommit-
mentsof
researchershouldarticulate
with
what
matters
most
to those in
a
local
setting.
How
does cross-cultural
nsight merge
amid
competingper-
sonal
values,
local
moral
stakes,
and
broad ethical
deliberations?
Could
becoming
responsive
n
a
local situationever be
inappropriate?
t
is ironic
that the best
pieces
in
the volume
do not so much
advocate
or
represent
examples
of
impassioned
world-saving,
s
they
reveal
the
great
merit
in
humble,
rather nti-heroic
ttempts
o understand
iolence,
however ncom-
pletely,
as
it
overwhelms
he
life of other
people.
Third,
witnessing
s
portrayed
s
inherently
ounter-violencend
-power,
as
well as
morally
lear
and
righteous.
Yet t is
not
so
simple.
In
Chapter
4
of
the
volume,
an
abridgement
f
The
Anthropologist
s
Terrorist,
y
Joseba
Zulaika,
oints
o
a
particular
ension.
Witnessing
appens
n
proximate,
ace-
to-facerelations nd
responds
o
an
ethicalcallto
help
the
other
gratuitous-
ly-what
Zulaika alls
impersonal itnessing.
et
t
also
happens
n
repre-
sentation;
he
witness translates
nto
writing
violence
seen and
heard,
in
order to
produce
a
responsive
audience.
In
departing
from the face-to-face
toward
abstract
tropes,
such
as
justice, witnessing
enters into an
economy
291
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Nancy
cheper-Hughes
nd
Philippe
ourgoiseds.)
Violence
n
War
nd
Peace:An
Anthology
that is no
longer mpersonal
nd
gratuitous-the aporetic gift
f the ethno-
grapher,
o
use
the editors'
phrase.
One
must
become
a
witness
to
violence,
though
simply
identifying
s
such-especially
as a witness
n
line
with
world-saving
endencies-risks
corrupting
he
purity
f
the
impersonal
momentand
forgetting
hatwitness-
ing
is
not as
just
as
the kindnesshat
instigates
t
is
good
(Levinas).
Obviously,
we must advocate or
justice,
Zulaika
writes;
but
it
is crucial hat the ast
word
s
not
justice
418).
Zulaika
ecognizes
hat
ustice,
world-saving,
ust
be left
open
forthe
better,
lways
made o
seem
incomplete ompared
o
the
ideal of
impersonal,
ratuitous
witnessing.
The
danger
s
that when
witness-
ing becomesa personalproject, he moralconcernsof ethnographersan
overshadow,
erhaps
istortwhatmatters
most
o
our nformants ndcollab-
orators.
f the
project
of
world-saving
an
and must
go
on,
even
if we
are
not
always
ertain
boutwhat his
means,
t
is nonetheless rucial hat
we not
lose the
gift
f
ethnography,
he
imperative
o
first,
prior
o
taking
stand,
want to understand nd care
about,
mpersonally
nd
gratuitously,
hat
he
other
cares
about.
292
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