Beware: Your Research May Be Weaponized

Abstract

Geography, although long used for war, offers powerful tools for making peace. Yet in a context of pervasive surveillance and high military interest in geography, it is important to be cautious that research is not misused or even weaponized (used by armed actors to do harm). This possibility should be more explicitly discussed in methods classes, committees, and ethics reviews. It is heartening that there is a growing commitment in geography to doing work for peace and justice, but given current levels of both military and police surveillance, we could all use more tools and guidance for how to do such work ethically. These conversations are currently rare. Geography methods textbooks say surprisingly little on the misuse of research more generally and nothing about armed actors in particular. We could also offer each other tips on how to look for and track the use of our research by the military and share more stories of what we have found. The potential of weaponization should not scare us off from peace and justice research but rather inspire us to do that work more carefully, which includes having more sophisticated conversations about potential misuse. Not only do we need to be wary of, teach, and speak out against the growing military use of geography, but I also urge us to work for a growing but careful use of the tools and insights of geography in struggles for peace and justice.

儘管地理学长期以来被运用于战争, 但却也提供了创造和平的强大工具。但在地理学中的普遍监控和高度军事兴趣之脉络中, 则必须高度警觉研究不被误用、甚至是武器化 (被武装行动者用来进行伤害)。此一可能性, 应该更清楚地在方法学课程、委员会和伦理审查中进行讨论。令人振奋的是, 地理学中有越来越多进行和平与正义工作的承诺, 但有鉴于目前军事与警察监控的程度, 我们在如何以符合伦理的方式从事上述工作上, 大可运用更多的工具及指导方针, 但这些对话目前却相当稀少。令人惊讶的是, 地理学研究方法的教科书对于广泛的研究误用所言甚少, 并且完全未提及针对武装行动者的部分。我们能够提供彼此如何寻找并追踪自身研究被军方运用的要领, 并分享更多我们所发现的故事。武装化的可能, 不应吓阻我们从事和平与正义研究, 而是激励我们更为谨慎地从事该工作, 包含对于可能的误用进行更为复杂的讨论。我们不仅需要警戒、教育、且大声疾呼反对军方逐渐增加的地理学使用, 我亦同时主张, 我们在争取和平与正义的斗争中, 应加强且更为小心地使用地理学的工具及洞见。

Aunque utilizada para la guerra durante mucho tiempo, la geografía dispone de poderosas herramientas para hacer la paz. No obstante, en un contexto de vigilancia invasiva y de alto interés militar en la geografía, es importante ser cautelosos para que la investigación no sea usada incorrectamente o incluso convertida en arma (usada por actores armados para causar daño). Tal posibilidad debería ser discutida más explícitamente en las clases sobre métodos, en comités y en reseñas éticas. Es alentador que haya un creciente compromiso en geografía por trabajar por la paz y la justicia, pero dados los actuales niveles de vigilancia militar y policíaca, podríamos usar más herramientas y orientación sobre cómo hacer éticamente ese trabajo. Actualmente estas conversaciones son raras. Los libros de texto sobre métodos geográficos sorprendentemente dicen poco sobre el mal uso de la investigación en general y nada acerca de actores armados en particular. Podríamos también darnos consejo mutuo sobre cómo indagar y rastrear el uso de nuestra investigación por los militares y compartir más los relatos de lo que hayamos descubierto. El potencial de uso armado de la geografía no tiene por qué apartarnos de contribuir investigación sobre paz y justicia, sino por el contrario inspirarnos a hacer el trabajo más cuidadosamente, lo que incluye tener conversaciones más sofisticadas sobre potenciales usos malintencionados. No solo necesitamos ser precavidos, enseñar y hablar contra el creciente uso militar de la geografía, sino que, enfatizo, es urgente trabajar por el uso creciente pero cuidadoso de herramientas y perspicacias de la geografía en las bregas por la paz y la justicia.

Key Words:

• ethics
• peace
• surveillance
• teaching
• weaponized

关键词：:

• 伦理
• 和平
• 监控
• 教育
• 武装化。

Palabras clave:

• ética
• paz
• vigilancia
• enseñanza
• conversión bélica

Notes

1 Of course, this has been part of the broader discussion of the Oaxaca scandal, and this particular angle was discussed at the author meets critics session for Bryan and Wood's (2015) Weaponizing Maps at the 2015 AAG conference.

2 Detailed figures are available at securityassistance.org.

3 The manuals are available on the Web site of the SOA Watch at soaw.org

4 Although it is a low-budget, grassroots video, it has rare footage of research subjects speaking back, which I have found useful for class discussions. It is available at http://bit.ly/1ObEsrh.

5 This was a statement by the board of the American Anthropological Association in 2007.

6 Price's (2011) book Weaponizing Anthropology describes this debate in anthropology. There are now several books on the weaponization of various disciplines, including Weaponizing Maps by Bryan and Wood (2015).

7 I learned of the use from her Twitter feed, @KarenMMorin. It is available at https://www.mca-marines.org/files/READING_THE_CULTURAL_LANDSCAPE_WHITE_PAPER.pdf.

8 This is a point Wainwright has made repeatedly, but see particularly Geopiracy (Wainwright 2012b).

9 Currently offered by Brigham Young University, George Mason University, Penn State, the University of Texas at Dallas, and the University of Missouri and under development at Fayetteville State University (Crampton, Roberts, and Poorthuis 2014, 209).

10 See Flint (2005) and Kobayashi (2009). The just published collection Geographies of Peace (Megoran, McConnell, and Williams 2014) is an exception.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sara Koopman

SARA KOOPMAN is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at York University, Toronto, ON M3J1P3 Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include how social movements use bodies and stories to build peace and solidarity across difference and distance.