The U.S. Army’s Human Terrain System has been a controversial project among academics recently, as the American Anthropological Association released their official report denouncing the HTS last week at their annual meeting in Philadelphia.  The program, which embeds anthropologists in Iraq and Afghanistan, is meant to supply information about local cultures and traditions to ease military endeavors in those areas.  While on the surface seeming harmless, this program and others like it raise many ethical questions.  Anthropology in its early forms had a sordid relationship with colonialism and racism and today still struggles with the consequences of that past.  Many anthropologists have published on ethics in anthropology and the American Anthropological Association maintains a constant discussion on it.  Check out the resources below to learn more about anthropology and ethics.

The Human Terrain System and the AAA

• The Final Report by the AAA’s Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with the US Security and Intelligence Communities (CEAUSSIC) on the Human Terrain System [PDF]
• Overview of  the Final Report by the AAA’s CEAUSSIC  on the Human Terrain System [AAA Blog]
• CEAUSSIC: Origin Story and Grand Finale by George Marcus [AAA Blog]
• The CEAUSSIC Homepage
• Suggested Readings from the CEAUSSIC: On LSU Libraries’ Worldcat Local | On the CEAUSSIC Website

Anthropology & Ethics (Online Resources)

• The American Anthropological Association’s Website on Ethics
• Handbook on Ethical Issues in Anthropology, edited by Joan Cassell and Sue-Ellen Jacobs a special publication of the American Anthropological Association
• AAA Statement on Ethics
• LSU’s Institutional Review Board (The board that oversees all research on human subjects at LSU, including anthropological work)
• Protecting Human Subject Research Participants, a free 3-hour course online course.

Anthropology & Ethics (Books and Journal Articles)

• Meskell, L., & Pels, P. (2005). Embedding ethics. Oxford, UK: Berg.
• Armbruster, H., & Lærke, A. (2008). Taking sides: Ethics, politics and fieldwork in anthropology. New York: Berghahn Books.
• Bulmer, M. (1982). Social research ethics: An examination of the merits of covert participant observation. New York: Holmes & Meier.
• Bower, R. T., & De Gasparis, P. (1978). Ethics in social research: Protecting the interests of human subjects. New York: Praeger.
• Beauchamp, T. L. (1982). Ethical issues in social science research. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Barnes, J. A. (1977). The ethics of inquiry in social science: Three lectures. Delhi: Oxford University Press.