Iraq at a Distance: What Anthropologists Can Teach Us About the War (The Ethnography of Political Violence)

The Iraq War has cost innumerable lives, caused vast material destruction, and inflicted suffering on millions of people. __Iraq at a Distance: What Anthropology Can Teach Us About the War__ focuses on the plight of the Iraqi people, caught since 2003 in the carnage between U.S. and British troops on one side and, on the other, Iraqi insurgents, militias, and foreign al Qaeda operatives. The volume is a bold attempt by six distinguished anthropologists to study a war zone too dangerous for fieldwork. They break new ground by using their ethnographic imagination as a research tool to analyze the Iraq War through insightful comparisons with previous and current armed conflicts in Cambodia, Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, and Argentina. This innovative approach extends the book's relevance beyond a critical understanding of the devastating war in Iraq. More and more parts of the world of long-standing ethnographic interest are becoming off-limits to researchers because of the war on terror. This book serves as a model for the study of other inaccessible regions, and it shows that the impossibility of conducting ethnographic fieldwork does not condemn anthropologists to silence. Essays analyze the good-versus-evil framework of the war on terror, the deterioration of women's rights in Iraq under fundamentalist coercion, the ethnic-religious partitioning of Baghdad through the building of security walls, the excessive use of force against Iraqi civilians by U.S. counterinsurgency units, and the loss of popular support for U.S. and British forces in Iraq and Afghanistan after the brutal regimes of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein had been toppled.

The Iraq War has cost innumerable lives, caused vast material destruction, and inflicted suffering on millions of people. Iraq at a Distance: What Anthropology Can Teach Us About the War focuses on the plight of the Iraqi people, caught since 2003 in the carnage between U.S. and British troops on one side and, on the other, Iraqi insurgents, militias, and foreign al Qaeda operatives.

The volume is a bold attempt by six distinguished anthropologists to study a war zone too dangerous for fieldwork. They break new ground by using their ethnographic imagination as a research tool to analyze the Iraq War through insightful comparisons with previous and current armed conflicts in Cambodia, Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, and Argentina. This innovative approach extends the book's relevance beyond a critical understanding of the devastating war in Iraq. More and more parts of the world of long-standing ethnographic interest are becoming off-limits to researchers because of the war on terror. This book serves as a model for the study of other inaccessible regions, and it shows that the impossibility of conducting ethnographic fieldwork does not condemn anthropologists to silence.

Essays analyze the good-versus-evil framework of the war on terror, the deterioration of women's rights in Iraq under fundamentalist coercion, the ethnic-religious partitioning of Baghdad through the building of security walls, the excessive use of force against Iraqi civilians by U.S. counterinsurgency units, and the loss of popular support for U.S. and British forces in Iraq and Afghanistan after the brutal regimes of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein had been toppled.

"The Iraq War has cost innumerable lives, caused vast material destruction, and inflicted suffering on millions of people. Iraq at a Distance: What Anthropology Can Teach Us About the War focuses on the plight of the Iraqi people, caught since 2003 in the carnage between primarily U.S. and British troops on one side and, on the other, Iraqi insurgents, militias, and foreign al Qaeda operatives." "The volume is a bold attempt by six distinguished anthropologists to study a war zone too dangerous for fieldwork. They break new ground by using their ethnographic imagination as a research tool to analyze the Iraq War through insightful comparisons with previous and current armed conflicts in Cambodia, Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, and Argentina. This innovative approach extends the book's relevance beyond a critical understanding of the devastating war in Iraq. More and more parts of the world of long-standing ethnographic interest are becoming off-limits to researchers because of the war on terror. This book serves as a model for the study of other inaccessible regions, and it shows that the impossibility of conducting ethnographic fieldwork does not condemn anthropologists to silence."--Back cover "The Iraq War has cost innumerable lives, caused vast material destruction, and inflicted suffering on millions of people. Iraq at a Distance: What Anthropology Can Teach Us About the War focuses on the plight of the Iraqi people, caught since 2003 in the carnage between primarily U.S. and British troops on one side and, on the other, Iraqi insurgents, militias, and foreign al Qaeda operatives." "The volume is a bold attempt by six distinguished anthropologists to study a war zone too dangerous for fieldwork. They break new ground by using their ethnographic imagination as a research tool to analyze the Iraq War through insightful comparisons with previous and current armed conflicts in Cambodia, Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, and Argentina. This innovative approach extends the book's relevance beyond a critical understanding of the devastating war in Iraq. More and more parts of the world of long-standing ethnographic interest are becoming off-limits to researchers because of the war on terror. This book serves as a model for the study of other inaccessible regions, and it shows that the impossibility of conducting ethnographic fieldwork does not condemn anthropologists to silence."--Jacket Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Preface 8 Ethnographic Imagination at a Distance: An Introduction to the Anthropological Study of the Iraq War 12 1. ‘‘Night Fell on a Different World’’: Dangerous Visions and the War on Terror, a Lesson from Cambodia 35 2. The War on Terror and Women’s Rights in Iraq 68 3. The War on Terror, Dismantling, and the Construction of Place: An Ethnographic Perspective from Palestine 91 4. Losing Hearts and Minds in the ‘‘War on Terrorism’’ 117 5. Mimesis in a War Among the People: What Argentina’s Dirty War Reveals About Counterinsurgency in Iraq 144 Epilogue 170 List of Contributors 186 Index 190 A 190 B 190 C 191 D 192 E 192 F 192 G 193 H 193 I 193 J 194 K 194 L 194 M 194 N 195 O 195 P 195 R 196 S 196 T 196 U 197 V 197 W 197 Y 197 Z 197 Ethnographic Imagination At A Distance: An Introduction To The Anthropological Study Of The Iraq War / Antonius C.g.m. Robben -- Night Fell On A Different World: Dangerous Visions And The War On Terror, A Lesson From Cambodia / Alexander Laban Hinton -- The War On Terror And Women's Rights In Iraq / Nadje Al-ali -- The War On Terror, Dismantling, And The Construction Of Place: An Ethnographic Perspective From Palestine / Julie Peteet -- Losing Hearts And Minds In The War On Terrorism / Jeffrey A. Sluka -- Mimesis In A War Among The People: What Argentina's Dirty War Reveals About Counterinsurgency In Iraq / Antonius C.g.m. Robben. Edited By Antonius C.g.m. Robben. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Iraq at a Distance describes the plight of the Iraqi people, caught since 2003 in the carnage between U.S. troops and Iraqi insurgents. This provocative book is a bold attempt by five distinguished anthropologists to study an inaccessible war zone through ground-breaking comparisons with armed conflicts around the world Annotation 'Iraq at a Distance' focuses on the plight of the Iraqi people, caught since 2003 in the carnage between British and American troops on one side and on the other Iraqi insurgents, militias and foreign Al Qaeda operatives