The army requires anthropologists: Australian anthropologists at war, 1939–1946

Abstract

World War II had unexpected consequences for the development of anthropology in Australia; it led to a breaking of the hegemonic control exercised by the Sydney department by the creation of, first, the Australian School of Pacific Administration (ASOPA) and second, the establishment of the Australian National University (ANU). Both institutions affected the way anthropology was practised and theorised, as well as removing the training of colonial field officers to the ASOPA, the original raison d'etre for the Sydney department. While the institutional consequences of the war are relatively well known, the work of anthropologists during the war and how their work contributed to the changes is less well known. This paper examines and discusses the work of Australian anthropologists in World War II.