Seeing into hearts and minds: Part 1. The Pentagon's quest for a ‘social radar’ (Respond to this article at https://www.therai.org.uk/publications/anthropology-today/debate) |
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| Authors: | Roberto J González |
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| Institution: | Roberto J. González is professor of anthropology at San Jose State University. He has authored several books including Zapotec science: Farming and food in the northern sierra of Oaxaca (2001) and Militarizing culture: Essays on the warfare state (2010). His most recent book is the co‐edited volume Up, down, and sideways: Anthropologists trace the pathways of power (2014). |
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| Abstract: | In this two‐part article, explored are the many funded programmes by which security agencies and private companies mine ‘big data’ and attempt to measure the sociocultural and psychological states of whole populations. How is failure or success measured? What kinds of new institutions/practices might these give rise to? Part 1 ‘The Pentagon's quest for a “social radar”’, published in this issue, comes to terms with today's many sociocultural modelling and forecasting efforts, looks in detail at one company in particular, and ends up reviewing the role of anthropologists in their development and critique. Part 2 ‘“Big data”, algorithms, and computational counterinsurgency’, to be published in a future issue, will analyze the rise of ‘predictive policing’ and its Pentagon connections, reviews two programmes, and poses these in the context of scientists' concerns over artificial intelligence and long‐term human survival. |
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