Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
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BOOKREVIEW
Peter Benson
HarvardUniversity
and PhilippeBourgois(eds.),Violencein Warand
NancyScheper-Hughes
Peace:AnAnthology.Oxford:BlackwellPublishers,2004, 496 pp.
Violence
authors and a
289
in WarandPeace:AnAnthology
and PhilippeBourgois
NancyScheper-Hughes
(eds.)Violence
PETER
BENSON
inside
Anthropological
witnessingobviouslypositionsthe anthropologist
or
humaneventsas a responsive,
and
commitreflexive, morally politically
ted being,a personwhocanbe countedon to "takesides"whennecessary
andto eschewthe privilegesof neutrality.
Thisstancefliesdirectlyin the
faceof academicnon-engagement.
Thegiftof the ethnographer
remains,
some
of
combination thickdescription,
and radhowever,
eye-witnessing,
icaljuxtaposition
basedon cross-cultural
insight.
In the end, the editors'aim is clear:"to put ourselvesand our discipline
squarelyon the side of humanity,world-saving,and world-repair,even
thoughwe maynot alwaysbe certainaboutexactlywhatthis meansor what
is beingaskedof us at any particularmoment"(26-27).
Yettherearesome problemswiththis emphasison "witnessing."
First,the
editorsonly brieflydiscussthe dilemmasinvolvedin writingviolence.When
of violencebecomesensational,forexample?Aretheregood
does a portrayal
and badwaysto witness?Howdoes one emphasizethe deep ambiguitiesthat
characterizesituationsof violenceand yet also "takesides,"accentuatethe
overwhelminguncertaintyof violence-the gray zone-and yet identify
ethicalorientations?
world-saving
there
is not reallya discussionof howthe personalmoralcommitSecond,
mentsof researchers
shouldarticulatewithwhat mattersmostto those in a
localsetting.Howdoes "cross-cultural
insight"emergeamid competingpersonal values, local moral stakes, and broad ethical deliberations?Could
It is ironic
becomingresponsivein a local situationever be inappropriate?
that the best pieces in the volume do not so much advocateor represent
as they revealthe great merit in
examplesof impassioned"world-saving,"
humble,ratheranti-heroicattemptsto understandviolence,howeverincompletely,as it overwhelmsthe life of otherpeople.
and -power,
Third,witnessingis portrayedas inherentlycounter-violence
as well as morallyclearand righteous.Yetit is not so simple.InChapter54 of
the volume,an abridgementof "TheAnthropologist
as Terrorist,"
by Joseba
a
to
tension.
in
Zulaika,points particular
happens proximate,faceWitnessing
to-facerelationsand respondsto an ethicalcallto help the othergratuitousYetit also happensin reprely-what Zulaikacalls"impersonal
witnessing."
sentation;the witnesstranslatesinto writingviolence seen and heard, in
order to produce a responsive audience. In departing from the face-to-face
toward abstract tropes, such as justice, witnessing enters into an economy
291
and PhilippeBourgois
in WarandPeace:AnAnthology
NancyScheper-Hughes
(eds.)Violence
292