Anthropology

In this review, I examine the recent turn to design in anthropology in three different configurations: anthropology of design, anthropology for design, and design for anthropology. Although these three configurations represent different cuts in a complex set of relations between these two disciplines, I have chosen to discuss them together because they all represent—though not always obviously so—attempts to contend with the moral implications of humans intervening in the lives of other humans. One goal of this article is to specify and evaluate a long-standing but underarticulated regard for design and designed things in anthropology while also offering a framework for critically engaging anthropology's relationship with design in its multiple configurations.

The last 2 years have witnessed a tremendous rise in esports in the US and, with it, a growing concern about the lack of diversity and its underlying probable cause: toxicity toward women and minorities. The popularity of this new pastime among undergraduates has skyrocketed and club leagues are quickly transitioning into collegiate sports, leaving universities to rapidly catch up with student demand in order to attract and keep a technologically-adept incoming student body. The University of California, Irvine has become a leader in collegiate esports programs, boasting a centrally located, dedicated esports arena, an active gaming student body (72%), and undergraduate scholarships. The goal is to be a leader not merely on the digital field, however. The goal is to also live up to the long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion across all aspects of campus life. In this article, the authors detail the strategy for accomplishing this. As university esports programs emerge na...

The last 2 years have witnessed a tremendous rise in esports in the US and, with it, a growing concern about the lack of diversity and its underlying probable cause: toxicity toward women and minorities. The popularity of this new pastime among undergraduates has skyrocketed and club leagues are quickly transitioning into collegiate sports, leaving universities to rapidly catch up with student demand in order to attract and keep a technologically-adept incoming student body. The University of California, Irvine has become a leader in collegiate esports programs, boasting a centrally located, dedicated esports arena, an active gaming student body (72%), and undergraduate scholarships. The goal is to be a leader not merely on the digital field, however. The goal is to also live up to the long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion across all aspects of campus life. In this article, the authors detail the strategy for accomplishing this. As university esports programs emerge na...

A single technoscientific knowledge project can entail many different kinds of knowledge production. Here, I show how a Mexican technoscientific knowledge project about seismicity requires diverse sensory practices and the production of knowledge about many kinds of environmental and social conditions. I argue that Mexican territorial politics frame this knowledge. Further, I demonstrate that these politics become evident in the very ways that knowledge about Mexico is configured spatially, that is, in topological and topographic ways that technicians and engineers come to understand and relate to Mexican territory. After situating this argument within contemporary critical attention to the production of geographic knowledge, I address it ethnographically. First, I describe how Mexican seismic monitoring is undertaken from the headquarters of the Centro de Instrumentación y Registro Sísmico (CIRES). Then, I deal with the arrangements of power that structure seismic monitoring and social conditions in what CIRES engineers and technicians call "the field." As I relate the sensory work and knowledge production that field teams do when they leave CIRES headquarters, I show how the things that field teams can know are shaped by territorial politics, and consequently reflect them. Résumé Un projet de connaissances technoscientifiques peut impliquer de nombreux types de production de connaissances. Je montre ici comment un projet de connaissance technoscientifique mexicain, relatif à la sismicité, requiert diverses pratiques sensorielles et la production de connaissances sur de nombreux types de conditions environnementales et sociales. Je soutiens que les politiques territoriales mexicaines encadrent cette connaissance. En outre, je démontre que ces politiques se manifestent de la même manière que la connaissance du Mexique est configurée spatialement, c'est-à-dire de manière topologique et topographique que les techniciens et les ingénieurs en viennent à comprendre le territoire mexicain et à le comprendre. Après avoir placé cet argument au centre de l'attention critique contemporaine portée à la production de connaissances géographiques, je l'adresse de manière ethnographique. En premier lieu, je décris comment le contrôle sismique mexicain est effectué depuis le siège du Centro de Instrumentación y Registro Sísmico (CIRES). Ensuite, je traiterai des arrangements de pouvoir qui structurent la surveillance sismique et les conditions sociales dans ce que les ingénieurs et techniciens du CIRES appellent "le terrain." En relatant le travail sensoriel et la production de connaissances effectués par les équipes de terrain après leur départ du siège du CIRES, je montre comment les éléments que les équipes de terrain peuvent connaître sont façonnés par la politique territoriale et, par conséquent, les reflètent. for comments on this paper or its earlier drafts. All errors and shortcomings remain my own. Reddy "A world we don't know" Journal of Political Ecology Vol. 25, 2018 509 Mots-clés: Mexique, surveillance de l'environnement, sens, connaissances, tremblements de terre Resumen Un proyecto de conocimiento tecnocientífico puede implicar muchos tipos de producción de conocimiento. Aquí, muestro cómo un proyecto mexicano de conocimiento tecnocientífico sobre sismicidad requiere diversas prácticas sensoriales y producción de conocimiento sobre muchos tipos de condiciones ambientales y sociales. Yo discuto que este conocimiento esta enmarcada por la política territorial mexicana. Además, yo muestro que estas políticas se hacen evidentes en cómo los técnicos e ingenieros configuran conocimiento sobre México en maneras topológicas y topográficas. Después de yo ubico mi argumento en el contexto de atención crítica contemporánea sobre la producción de conocimiento geográfico, lo abordo etnográficamente. Primero, describo cómo se realiza el monitoreo sísmico en México desde la sede central del Centro de Instrumentación y Registro Sísmico (CIRES). Luego, yo trazo el arreglamiento del poder que estructura ambos el monitoreo sísmico y las condiciones sociales en lo que los técnicos y ingenieros de CIRES llaman "el campo." Cuándo yo relato el trabajo sensorial y la producción de conocimiento que hacen los equipos de campo cuando salen de la sede de CIRES, yo demuestro cómo las cosas que los equipos de campo pueden conocer están moldeadas por la política territorial y, en consecuencia, la reflejan.

Critical algorithm scholarship has demonstrated the difficulties of attributing accountability for the actions and effects of algorithmic systems. In this commentary, we argue that we cannot stop at denouncing the lack of accountability for algorithms and their effects but must engage the broader systems and distributed agencies that algorithmic systems exist within; including standards, regulations, technologies, and social relations. To this end, we explore accountability in ''the Generated Detective,'' an algorithmically generated comic. Taking up the mantle of detectives ourselves, we investigate accountability in relation to this piece of experimental fiction. We problematize efforts to effect accountability through transparency by undertaking a simple operation: asking for permission to re-publish a set of the algorithmically selected and modified words and images which make the frames of the comic. Recounting this process, we demonstrate slippage between the ''complication'' of the algorithm and the obscurity of the legal and institutional structures in which it exists.

On 28 July 2014, a smartphone app warned Mexicans of an earthquake that never came. Engineers took this misfire seriously, concerned that it might have a ‘cry wolf’ effect. They were concerned that people could lose confidence in the early warning system and then, the next time that alerts sounded before one of Mexico’s frequent and violent earthquakes, people might fail to take potentially life-saving action. In this article, I argue that these responses to the misfire reveal cries of ‘crying wolf’ as enactments and explorations of particular forms of responsibility integral to Mexican engineering subjectivities.

In an interdisciplinary project-based course, the topic of ‘drones’ served as an essential boundary object both for the students themselves and instructors. Instructors developed the course to facilitate productive exchanges between students from schools of engineering and peace studies involved. In this critical participation paper, we use an experimental reflection and analysis method to explore the instructors’ experience with this class. We demonstrate how this boundary object both facilitated some of the most desirable outcomes related to interdisciplinary partnerships and interfered with them by making collaboration without consensus – or explicit disagreements – possible. The kinds of troublesome surprises that instructors reflect on might be understood as indicative of ecologies of ideas, priorities, and practices that students and instructors bring to the classroom. We suggest that other instructors might also benefit from reflecting on their experiences with interdisciplinarity in the way that we have here.

In order to prevent injury and save lives, earthquake early warning systems like Mexico's public Sistema de Alerta Sísmica Mexicano (SASMEX) must pair timely, effective hazard detection with effective alert dissemination to responsive users. The alert makes seismicity meaningful to its users Elizabeth Reddy

Earthquake early warning systems (EEW) are becoming increasingly available or in development throughout the world. With public alerting in Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, and parts of the United States, it is important to provide evidence-based recommendations for protective action so people can protect themselves when they receive an alert. Best-practice warning communication research suggests that providing a protective action will increase the efficacy of the message. However, given the diversity of earthquakes and building types, as well as social and cultural contexts where these systems exist, the question is: what is the best protective action to recommend? The answer lies in maximizing life-saving protective actions during an earthquake event requires both contextually relevant messaging and widespread public education about appropriate protective actions under a range of conditions. By researching previous earthquake injury literature, examining current best practices and public edu...

A single technoscientific knowledge project can entail many different kinds of knowledge production. Here, I show how a Mexican technoscientific knowledge project about seismicity requires diverse sensory practices and the production of knowledge about many kinds of environmental and social conditions. I argue that Mexican territorial politics frame this knowledge. Further, I demonstrate that these politics become evident in the very ways that knowledge about Mexico is configured spatially, that is, in topological and topographic ways that technicians and engineers come to understand and relate to Mexican territory. After situating this argument within contemporary critical attention to the production of geographic knowledge, I address it ethnographically. First, I describe how Mexican seismic monitoring is undertaken from the headquarters of the Centro de Instrumentación y Registro Sísmico (CIRES). Then, I deal with the arrangements of power that structure seismic monitoring and so...

Critical algorithm scholarship has demonstrated the difficulties of attributing accountability for the actions and effects of algorithmic systems. In this commentary, we argue that we cannot stop at denouncing the lack of accountability for algorithms and their effects but must engage the broader systems and distributed agencies that algorithmic systems exist within; including standards, regulations, technologies, and social relations. To this end, we explore accountability in “the Generated Detective,” an algorithmically generated comic. Taking up the mantle of detectives ourselves, we investigate accountability in relation to this piece of experimental fiction. We problematize efforts to effect accountability through transparency by undertaking a simple operation: asking for permission to re-publish a set of the algorithmically selected and modified words and images which make the frames of the comic. Recounting this process, we demonstrate slippage between the “complication” of t...

El artículo discute desde un punto multidisciplinario el estado actual de las predicciones sísmicas con sustento científico basados en precursores físicos, métodos estadísticos y los requisitos mínimos que deben considerarse para identificar métodos razonables; especialmente, los encaminados a la prevención sísmica. Sobre la cultura de la prevención se discuten cambios históricos relacionados con la población vulnerable y marginal, su progreso en relación al desarrollo científico, la evidencia antropológica sobre la eficacia de las predicciones y su influencia en la cultura de la prevención para enfrentar riesgos comunes, el sistema de alerta temprana de sismos y la influencia de las predicciones en las expectativas y decisiones de inversión.