Saturday, July 23, 2011

Why we need an Applied Anthropology - 2!

The real world of a global economy controlled by small "tribal" elites requires the study by those who have the broad anthropological perspective and the skills of participant observation. Case in point:



See the book Liquidation..

When the incentive system is out of synch with the superorganic (social and cultural) purpose of the activity that drives the system, then we get melt down or cancer. Crisis is the result of systemic conflict and mismatches. Anthropology teaches us that there is no institution, no tribe, no nation and no civilization that is NOT TOO BIG TO FAIL. Applied anthropologists have a lot to contribute to understanding this and the processes that affect it. Here is a good example of what anthropologists can do to address the problem.

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