Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology by Nancy Scheper-Hughes; Philippe Bourgois

Review by: Peter Benson

Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 78, No. 1 (Winter, 2005), pp. 289-292
Published by: The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4150902 .
Accessed: 06/10/2014 18:59
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research is collaborating with JSTOR to
digitize, preserve and extend access to Anthropological Quarterly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 201.234.181.53 on Mon, 6 Oct 2014 18:59:44 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

BOOKREVIEW
Peter Benson
HarvardUniversity
and PhilippeBourgois(eds.),Violencein Warand
NancyScheper-Hughes
Peace:AnAnthology.Oxford:BlackwellPublishers,2004, 496 pp.

in Warand Peace:AnAnthologybringstogether62 essaysby 50

lengthy introductionby the editors, Nancy ScheperHughes and Philippe Bourgois. Seasoned ethnographersand leading
researchersin the fields of politicaland medicalanthropology,the editors
share a commitmentto politicaladvocacyand teaching. Their brandof
is drivenbya passionfor becomingthicklyandtenselyinvolved
anthropology
in and lendingan ethnographic
voiceto pressingsocialproblems.Thevolume
Itshowcasesthe great
is a fine exampleof this commitmentto ethnography.
relevance of ethnographic research and writing-compared to other
approaches-forthinkingaboutviolenceandsuffering.Thiscollectionwillbe
an invaluableresourceforteachersand learners,a comprehensive
anthology
a
volume
for
more
for introductory
classes,or companion
in-depthseminars.
Theintroduction,
likethe volumeitself,is dividedinto11 sectionsthatdeal
with differenttypesof violence:genocide,complicityand blame,communal
and state-sponsored
violence,revolutionand socialupheaval,crime,torture,
genderedviolence,colonialismand conquest.Thisvolume is difficultreading-not so muchdenseorturgidbutwounding,troubling,forthe readerwill
findsomeof the bestattemptsof the lastcenturyto translatethe pain,uncer-

Violence
authors and a

289

This content downloaded from 201.234.181.53 on Mon, 6 Oct 2014 18:59:44 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

in WarandPeace:AnAnthology
and PhilippeBourgois
NancyScheper-Hughes
(eds.)Violence

tainty,and absurdityof violenceinto an at least somewhatunderstandable

format.Wefindthat it is ourverylackof clarityaboutviolencethat empowers us to tryto understandits manyfaces."It,"the editorssayof violence,is
ambulantand multivalent,neverfullywithinourgrasp.
Yetthe editorsdo succeedin developingsyntheticclaimsaboutwhatviolence is, how it works,and whatwe can do aboutit. First,like produceslike,
violencebegetsviolence.Violenceintensifies,sometimesexponentially,
sometimesgradually.
Structural
violence,suchas extremepoverty,cantranslateinto
moreintimateor domesticformsof violence.Politicalviolencefuelsandfeeds
on symbolicviolencewherebycollectivesenses of blame,victimization,
and
in
are
and
what
embodied
Second,
reproduced
systems.
sign
marginalization
is namedviolenceis a matterof perspective,dependingon historicalconvenand
tions, consolidationsof knowledgeand power,culturalrepresentations,
the media. Particularacts of violence can alternativelybe perceivedas
depraved,glorious,sensible,or insane.Third,the mostcompellingargument
of the volume,violenceis a social process.One perspectivethat is rejected
fromthe beginningis a commonsense,reductiveviewof violenceas socio-or
Whetheror notviolenceis "hard-wired,"
geneticor hormonpsychobiological.
al is neitheras interestingnoras urgent,the editorswrite,as the "veryhuman
face of violence"(3).Readerswillfindthat it is this dimensionthat givesviolence its meaningand force.Understanding
why peoplekilland do violence
as
involvesunderstanding
socialworlds politicaland historicalproducts.
or at leastare
Mostof the chaptersarewrittenbyculturalanthropologists,
we
read MichaelTaussig,
oriented. Besidesthe editors,
ethnographically
VeenaDas,PaulFarmer,amongothers.Yetthe ethnographic
voice does not
do
to
the
stand alone, and a short reviewcannot justice
rangeof genres,
methodologies,andviewpointsfoundtherein.Oneneedonlyperusethetable
of contentsto get a senseof the variety.Journalistic
pieces,suchas the hauntWeWishToInformYouThatTomorrow
ing selectionfromPhilipGourevitch's
WeWillBeKilledWithOurFamilies,whichdescribesRwandagenocideexperiences, are set alongsidefiction,such as the excerptfromJosephConrad's
Heartof Darknessthat opensthe volumeor some GeorgeOrwell.Thereis a
and
selectionon "TheGrayZone"fromPrimoLevi'smasterpiece,TheDrowned
the Saved,theoreticalpieces by Agamben,Fanon,Bourdieuand Scarry,and
even a couple of cartoon selections from the famous art-text by Art
Spiegelman, Maus:A Survivor'sTale.
The editors end the introductionby arguing forcefullythat ethnographers
and other researchershave a responsibilityto become "witnesses"to violence.
290

This content downloaded from 201.234.181.53 on Mon, 6 Oct 2014 18:59:44 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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

This content downloaded from 201.234.181.53 on Mon, 6 Oct 2014 18:59:44 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

and PhilippeBourgois
in WarandPeace:AnAnthology
NancyScheper-Hughes
(eds.)Violence

that is no longerimpersonaland gratuitous-the aporetic"giftof the ethnoto use the editors'phrase.

grapher,"
One must become a witnessto violence, though simply identifyingas
tendencies-risks
such-especially as a witnessin line with "world-saving"
corruptingthe purityof the impersonalmomentand forgettingthatwitnessingis not as justas the kindnessthatinstigatesit is good(Levinas).
"Obviously,
we mustadvocatefor justice,"Zulaikawrites;but it is crucialthat "thelast
wordis notjustice"(418).Zulaikarecognizesthatjustice,"world-saving,"
must
be leftopenforthe better,alwaysmadeto seem incompletecomparedto the
idealof impersonal,gratuitouswitnessing.Thedangeris that whenwitnesscan
ing becomesa personalproject,the moralconcernsof ethnographers
distort
what
matters
to
most
our
informants
and
collabovershadow,perhaps
can and mustgo on, even if we are
orators.If the projectof "world-saving"
not alwayscertainaboutwhatthismeans,it is nonethelesscrucialthatwe not
losethe "gift"of ethnography,
the imperativeto first,priorto "takinga stand,"
whatthe
wantto understandand careabout,impersonally
andgratuitously,
othercaresabout.

292

This content downloaded from 201.234.181.53 on Mon, 6 Oct 2014 18:59:44 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions