I forbindelse med avviklingen av PhD-kurset «Engaged anthropology» (SOA-8011), vil Professor Stuart Kirsch, University of Michigan, USA, foredra over følgende tittel:The Politics of Engaged Research: Three Dilemmas in the Amazon.
Guest lecture (SOA-8011):
Professor Stuart Kirsch, University of Michigan, USA.
The Politics of Engaged Research: Three Dilemmas in the Amazon.
Abstract
The Politics of Engaged Research: Three Dilemmas in the Amazon
Scholars increasingly seek to mobilize academic research for constructive interventions into politics. This presentation considers three short-term projects in the Amazon. The first case involves research on indigenous land rights in Suriname for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Here shared political objectives facilitated interaction, accelerated the pace of the intervention, and provided valuable feedback. The second example is an interdisciplinary review of a proposed bauxite mine in Suriname, where the local community was divided about the development. The final example is an affidavit for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on indigenous land rights in an area of Guyana where both community members and non-indigenous actors mine for gold and diamonds. Each intervention presents its own political dilemmas. By examining the ‘backstage’ of these interactions, this presentation sheds light on the possibilities and challenges of engaged research.