Counterinsurgency: Knowledge and Domination of the Human Terrain
Topics covered include:
• Human Terrain System • global counterinsurgency • domestic counterinsurgency • militarized anthropology • “humane warfare” • militainment
Required Readings:
Chapter 1, “The Myth of a ‘Gentler’ Counterinsurgency,” pp. 1-24, in: González, Roberto J. (2009). American Counterinsurgency: Human Science and the Human Terrain. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press.
Chapter 2, “The Origins of Human Terrain,” pp. 25-44, in: González, Roberto J. (2009). American Counterinsurgency: Human Science and the Human Terrain. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press.
Chapter 3, “Phoenix Rising? The Birth of HTS,” pp. 45-78, in: González, Roberto J. (2009). American Counterinsurgency: Human Science and the Human Terrain. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press.
Film (only parts are shown):
Militainment, Inc: Militarism and Pop Culture
“Militainment, Inc. offers a fascinating, disturbing, and timely glimpse into the militarization of American popular culture, examining how U.S. news coverage has come to resemble Hollywood film, video games, and ‘reality television’ in its glamorization of war. Mobilizing an astonishing range of media examples — from news anchors’ idolatry of military machinery to the impact of government propaganda on war reporting — the film asks: How has war taken its place in the culture as an entertainment spectacle? And how does presenting war as entertainment affect the ability of citizens to evaluate the necessity and real human costs of military action? The film is broken down into nine sections, each between 10 and 20 minutes in length, allowing for in-depth classroom analysis and discussion of individual elements of this wide-ranging phenomenon.”
» Working Bibliography (worth 5%): please send via email, as an attachment in .odt, .doc., .docx, or .pdf to: maximilian.forte@concordia.ca, by the end of the day.
Optional Readings in the New Imperialism Course Pack on Reserve:
Montgomery MCFATE.
(2005). “The military utility of understanding adversary culture.” Joint Force Quarterly (38).
Montgomery MCFATE.
(2005). “Anthropology and counterinsurgency: The strange story of their curious relationship.” Military Review, March-April.
Roberto J. GONZÁLEZ
(2008). “‘Human terrain’: Past, present and future applications.” Anthropology Today, 24 (1) January: 21-26.
