Rick Scott Vs. Anthropology

"Is it a vital interest of the state to have more anthropologists? I don’t think so."

 So says Florida Governor Rick Scott.

This is not the first time that anthropology has come under attack. Florida in particular has been hurting. Given that I received a masters in anthropology from FSU, I think that this is of utmost importance. The program at FSU, as many may know, has been suffering from policies emanating from the view that anthropology has no role to play. Is it true that anthropology cannot create jobs? Maybe academic ones these days, but such a myopic vision of anthropology certainly does not characterize the field of practicing anthropologists. For me, it is unfortunate that a politician would seek to de-legitimize and eliminate a discipline that offers a balanced view of the human condition and, frankly, often provides empirical, historical data that can be used to promote greater equality.

Unfortunately, many people, including Scott, do not really know what anthropologists do.  We are viewed as the brokers of the exotic, as the eccentric protagonists in bad movies and Discovery channel specials, as the chroniclers of now extinct ways of life. Like many anthropologists, I find this dominant view of our discipline to be troubling and, at times, suffocating. The AAAs response to Scott was not that effective. Luckily, we can thank the students at the University of South Florida for a more effective defense of the discipline:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rachel-newcomb/to-governor-rick-scott-wh_b_1008964.html