ABSTRACT
The author had long straddled the anthropology of activism and anthropology as activism, with discomfort. But what space is there for an anthropology of activism when the movements depart from our own ethical commitments as political subjects? One of the chapters in this section of the book considers motivations around genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and biotechnology. GMO sugar beets in rural Oregon and the threat of other forms of “transgenic trespass” became the forces that ignited human activity, leading to a ban on GMO crops. Another chapter shows how the form of the cooperative (rooted in anarchic values of mutual aid and solidarity) is a platform for “acupuncture as social justice.” Yet another chapter brings our attention to the “shift in habitus” that motivates residents of Chelsea, Massachusetts to move to act upon the toxic discharges in their community. It shows how critical applied medical anthropology illuminates the questions of power that shoot through experiences of health.
