Virtual War and Magical Death: Technologies and Imaginaries for Terror and Killing

301 Pages·2013·2.808 MB·English

by  Neil L. Whitehead, Sverker Finnström

Virtual War and Magical death
the cultures and Practice of Violence series
SerieS editorS:
Neil L. Whitehead, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Jo Ellen Fair, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Leigh Payne, University of Wisconsin, Madison
The study of violence has often focused on the political and eco-
nomic conditions under which violence is generated, the suffering
of victims, and the psychology of its interpersonal dynamics. Less
familiar are the role of perpetrators, their motivations, and the social
conditions under which they are able to operate. In the context of
postcolonial state building and more latterly the collapse and implo-
sion of society, community violence, state repression, and the phe-
nomena of judicial inquiries in the aftermath of civil conflict, there
is a need to better comprehend the role of those who actually do the
work of violence—torturers, assassins, and terrorists—as much as
the role of those who suffer its consequences.
When atrocity and murder take place, they feed the world of the
iconic imagination that transcends reality and its rational articula-
tion; but in doing so imagination can bring further violent realities
into being. This series encourages authors who build on traditional
disciplines and break out of their constraints and boundaries, incor-
porating media and performance studies and literary and cultural
studies as much as anthropology, sociology, and history.
Virtual War
Technologies and Imaginaries for Terror and Killing
and Magical death
Neil l. Whitehead aNd
Sverker FiNNStröm, edS.
Duke University Press
Durham and London
2013
© 2013 Duke University Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-f ree paper ♾
Designed by Heather Hensley
Typeset in Warnock by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n-P ublication Data appear on
the last printed page of this book.
For Neil (1956–2012)
Deep sorrow in our hearts
Paralyzing
This cannot be the end
This is some kind of beginning
We have to carry on
And we shall meet
Don’t know where, don’t know how
Just don’t know
So much remains unsaid
So much remains to be done
Life is unfinished
You are life
Life is everywhere
Bewilderness, so hard to swallow
Yet gardens will again grow and blossom
Your fight is over
We continue
Together

contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Virtual War and Magical Death 1
neil l. Whitehead and sVerker finnströM
1. Ethnography, Knowledge, Torture, and Silence 26
neil l. Whitehead
2. The Role of Culture in Wars Waged by Robots: Connecting 46
Drones, Anthropology, and Human Terrain System’s Prehistory
daVid Price
3. Cybernetic Crystal Ball: “Forecasting” Insurgency in 65
Iraq and Afghanistan
roberto J. gonzález
4. Full Spectrum: The Military Invasion of Anthropology 85
r. brian ferguson
5. Today He Is No More: Magic, Intervention, and 111
Global War in Uganda
sVerker finnströM
6. The Hostile Gaze: Night Vision and the Immediation of 132
Nocturnal Combat in Vietnam and Iraq
antonius c. g. M. robben
7. Virtual Soldiers, Cognitive Laborers 152
robertson allen
8. Virtual War in the Tribal Zone: Air Strikes, Drones, 171
Civilian Casualties, and Losing Hearts and Minds in
Afghanistan and Pakistan
Jeffrey a. sluka
9. Propaganda, Gangs, and Social Cleansing in Guatemala 194
Victoria sanford
10. The Soundtrack to War 214
MattheW suMera
11. War at Large: Miner Magic and the Carrion System 234
koen stroeken
References 251
Contributors 279
Index 281
acknoWledgMents
The chapters in this volume were first presented at the American Anthro-
pological Association’s annual meetings in Philadelphia in 2009, on a
panel organized by Neil L. Whitehead, Koen Stroeken, and me called
“Virtual War and Magical Death,” a title we kept for the book. This dis-
cussion followed up on a panel called “Ethnographies of Violence,” or-
ganized by Neil at the American Anthropological Association’s annual
meetings in San Jose in 2006, to which he had invited me, and which
eventually was published as a special issue of Anthropology and Human-
ism (2009, vol. 34, no. 1). The San Jose panel was sponsored by the Society
for Humanistic Anthropology. In 2010 I visited Neil in Madison to plan
the current anthology with him. We also invited David Price to contrib-
ute a paper. He attended the discussions in Philadelphia but was not a
panel participant.
To work with Neil on this anthology was a true dialogue, immensely
inspiring, with draft versions endlessly traveling the cyberspace between
me and Neil, between Uppsala and Madison. Following up on our an-
thology, a number of panels were planned for the American Anthropo-
logical Association’s annual meetings in San Francisco in 2012, when
Neil’s untimely death disrupted everything. So it felt. Only slowly did we
get back on track again. Warm thanks to Erika Robb Larkins, Neil’s friend
and former student, whom I first met on Neil’s panel in San Jose, who was
instrumental during these final stages.
I want to thank all contributors for encouragement and patience, and I
extend this gratitude to everyone at Duke University Press, including the
anonymous reviewers who unquestionably helped us improve our spin-
ning thoughts. Special thanks to Valerie Millholland, Miriam Angress,