What I see on this list from mart and from Michael (B) is an unending 
stream of very personal babble. I don't want to deny them their 
necessary outlets, but I must ask, Why do I bother to read (any of) it?

Charlie

mart wrote:
> if one googles 'chris knight' (in wikipedia) he is the founder of a 
> radical anthropology group (and i think also lost his academic 
> position in the uk for some comments and role he had in g20 protests 
> in the UK).  he also has a take on the evolutuion of language which is 
> basically a big critique of chomsky (including chomsky's article with 
> hauser in science).  i find it much more convincing than chomsky's 
> approach (which seems all dressed up in hype with actual little 
> rigor   much less reference to empirical data).  there free journal 
> online has an interview wuith chomsky though i just skimmed it---and 
> they go through their skepticism.
>    s bowles (once a 'radical economist') and gintis also have gone 
> through this kind of stuff.
>
> --- On *Thu, 8/12/10, Michael Balter /<[log in to unmask]>/* wrote:
>
>
>     From: Michael Balter <[log in to unmask]>
>     Subject: engaged anthropology
>     To: [log in to unmask]
>     Date: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 2:19 PM
>
>     List members might find this profile of U of Utah anthropologist
>     Polly Wiessner of interest. She reflects an increasing trend in
>     anthropology, sometimes called engaged anthropology, to become
>     more closely involved with research subjects--indeed, to make them
>     active collaborators--and to make their welfare paramount. This
>     viewpoint, which rejects notions that active involvement with
>     subjects compromises scientific objectivity, is also associated
>     with an activist and advocacy role for anthropologists. The recent
>     revolt in the American Anthropological Association against the use
>     of anthropologists in Iraq and Afghanistan is an example of this
>     attitude; and it represents, finally, the throwing off of the
>     lingering effects of McCarthyism's devastating attack on the
>     field. All these issues are discussed, albeit briefly, at the end
>     of the piece.
>
>     MB
>
>     -- 
>     ******************************************
>     Michael Balter
>     Contributing Correspondent, Science
>     Adjunct Professor of Journalism,
>     New York University
>
>     Email:  [log in to unmask]
>     <[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">http:[log in to unmask]>
>     Web:    michaelbalter.com <http://michaelbalter.com/>
>     NYU:    journalism.nyu.edu/faculty/balter.html
>     <http://journalism.nyu.edu/faculty/balter.html>
>     ******************************************
>
>     "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask
>     why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist." -- Hélder
>     Pessoa Câmara
>
>