ABSTRACT
In 1965, the AAA’s executive board received expressions of concern over the US government’s support of social science research in foreign countries. This research was alleged to assist the government in their insurgency and counterinsurgency activities. The most notorious example was Project Camelot in Chile, in which the army was believed to clandestinely fund social science research to prevent public revolts against the government of Chile. Public outcry associated with this project, the war in Vietnam and later conflicts raised ethical questions: concerns that anthropology’s resultant bad reputation might close off future field opportunities abroad, and the information gathered would be used by the US government to control, enslave or damage communities under study.
