The Wenner-Gren Blog

Request for Information

The Creation and Division of Wealth and the Long-term Consequences of
Inequality: Views from Archaeology

Precis: The Coalition for Archaeological Synthesis (CfAS) seeks applications from researchers in archaeology and allied disciplines who are interested in participating in a collaborative synthetic research project on social inequality. This NSF-funded effort (recommended for funding in May 2021) will advance synthetic understandings of relationships between inequality and other dimensions of human social dynamics as they are revealed by the archaeological record. The project will be pursued by a working group of 10 researchers who have expertise in the study of social inequality and who have and are willing to share data and expertise pertinent to the topic for areas in which we seek coverage (see Research Areas and Data Types Sought, below). The working group, led by Tim Kohler and Amy Bogaard, will expand and develop the approach presented in Kohler et al. (2017) and Kohler and Smith (2018). A more complete summary of the research strategy may be found in the Project Summary from the successful NSF Grant application attached at the end of this RFI.

Deadline for receipt of letters of interest: July 23, 2021

Participants to be selected: 5 (who will join five others already selected: Shadreck Chirikure, Tim Kerig, Scott Ortman, Bogaard, and Kohler)

Contact: Questions concerning this Request for Information should be sent to Scott Ortman,
Director, Center for Collaborative Synthesis in Archaeology (CCSA), at scott.ortman@colorado.edu.

Background

Established in 2017, the Coalition for Archaeological Synthesis advances synthetic research using the working group model pioneered by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). Although new to archaeology, the NCEAS model of research has been a powerful driver for advancing interdisciplinary scientific research in other fields (Carpenter et al. 2009; Hackett et al. 2008). The rationale behind and the vision of the Coalition is articulated in two papers (Altschul et al. 2017, 2018) available on the CfAS website (http://archsynth.org). As the project is intended to put into practice the collaborative research model laid out in those papers, RFI applicants are strongly encouraged to consult them.

Letters of interest submitted in response to this Request for Information will be used by CfAS to identify working group participants for a working group effort extending from the fall 2021 into the fall of 2024, with in-person meetings in Oxford, UK tentatively scheduled for November 2021 and in Boulder Colorado in fall 2022. Travel, lodging, and related meeting costs of the participants selected for the workshop will be paid through an NSF award to CU-Boulder’s CCSA.

A research stipend of $6500 will be provided to each participant to assist in data compilation and cleaning. No additional field or laboratory work will be funded.

Research Areas and Data Types Sought

In selecting researchers, we will prioritize expertise and access to existing data from areas such as Japan, South Asia, South America, and Eastern North America that have been lightly represented in prior work, and from areas able to present a continuous, long and well dated sequence of data. Regions that have been relatively well represented in earlier work on this topic (including the US Southwest and Mesoamerica) will be a lower priority, unless they can offer long and well-dated sequences not previously analyzed from the perspectives we are advancing. Participating researchers must have (or be able to develop) systematic data on house size and, ideally, household storage capacities for their area. It is important for chronology to be well controlled. The existence of high-quality contextual data for the sites, including reliable site and regional population estimates, well excavated assemblages of artifacts, well understood subsistence regimes, and data related to changing levels of violence is advantageous. A longer list of data to be tabulated will be developed at the initial meeting; we do not want to completely prejudge the sorts of data that researchers will advance from their specific areas as relevant to studying relative wealth and degree of prosperity and well being.

Application Submission, Evaluation, and Award

Application Submission:
Applications to participate in this working group must be submitted electronically to
Meg.Quiat@colorado.edu, by July 23 at 5PM MST (GMT-7). Letters of Interest shall be submitted in a single PDF or Microsoft Word document using an 11 point or larger font size, with pages having 1” margins.

Who May Submit Applications:
Letters of Interest can be submitted by any researcher with experience and having the rights
to existing data, including house-size data, relevant to social inequality. All researchers regardless of nationality are eligible; we are committed to diversity and professional development and strongly encourage participation by junior and historically underrepresented researchers, heritage management professionals as well as academics, and by individuals from developing countries and indigenous communities. Ability to engage in scholarly discussions in English (orally and in writing) is required. By the end of the project, source and synthesized data products must be made available, open access, through a recognized digital repository. Those submitting applications must commit to make available, open access, those portions of their data that end up being employed by the working group, and to attend an initial meeting of the Working Group in Oxford tentatively scheduled for November 19-21, 2021.

Application Sections
Each application must consist of a 2-page letter of interest and a 2-page curriculum vitae.

Letter of Interest. A 2-page letter of interest demonstrates the applicant’s relevant experience, describes their interest and past engagement in the study of inequality and explains how they would contribute to the working group efforts. The applicant will outline the data set(s) that they would contribute to the working group. Willingness and ability to engage in collaborative, interdisciplinary research and to integrate diverse data sources should be emphasized.

Curriculum Vitae. A 2-page summary curriculum vitae is required. No other information (such as hyperlinks to outside material) will be considered. The US National Science Foundation’s biosketch format is preferred but not required.

Review and Selection Process
Applications meeting the requirements set out above will be evaluated by a CfAS Review Committee that will evaluate applications on the extent to which they convey convincing arguments for making a contribution to this collaborative research effort. In addition to obtaining the desired areal and temporal coverage in archaeological data, the Review
Committee will be charged with ensuring that the working-group membership as a whole has
substantial diversity along as many dimensions as possible, including gender, professional status, nationality, and intellectual orientation. The Review Committee will recommend the five individuals to participate in the working group. Final decisions on working-group membership will rest with PIs Kohler and Bogaard. Participant selections are expected within 4 weeks of the application deadline.

Award Information
The award will pay directly for the lodging, and meals during the working group meetings. In
addition, it will provide each participant with a research stipend of $6500 to aid in data compilation and cleaning. If required, it will also cover visa fees and provide letters of invitation. Participants, including international participants, will be reimbursed for reasonable travel expenses. This would include, for example, transportation to and from the origin airport, advance-purchase coach airfare, transportation from the destination airport to the conference facility, and meal expenses (at a standard US General Services Administration rate) during travel. If reimbursement represents a problem, it may be possible to arrange for an advance or for purchase of plane tickets directly.

Effect of Submitting a Letter of Interest
By submitting an application in response to this RFI, the applicant acknowledges that applications may be submitted by other applicants and that CfAS is under no legal obligation to select an applicant’s letter of interest. Applicants submitting RFI responses further acknowledge that CfAS’ decision as to whom to grant an award is final, binding and non-appealable.

References Cited

Altschul, Jeffrey H., Keith W. Kintigh, Terry H. Klein, William H. Doelle, Kelley A. Hays-Gilpin,
Sarah A. Herr, Timothy A. Kohler, Barbara J. Mills, Lindsay M. Montgomery, Margaret C. Nelson,
Scott G. Ortman, John N. Parker, Matthew A. Peeples, and Jeremy A. Sabloff.

2017. Opinion: Fostering synthesis in archaeology to advance science and benefit society. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
114(42):10999–11002. DOI:10.1073/pnas.1715950114.
2018 Fostering Collaborative Synthetic Research in Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological
Practice 6(1):19–29. DOI:10.1017/aap.2017.31.

Carpenter, Stephen R., E. Virginia Armbrust, Peter W. Arzberger, F. Stuart Chapin, James J. Elser,
Edward J. Hackett, Anthony R. Ives, Peter M. Kareiva, Mathew A. Leibold, Per Lundberg, Marc
Mangel, Nirav Merchant, William W. Murdoch, Margaret A. Palmer, Debra P. C. Peters, Steward T.
A. Pickett, Kathleen K. Smith, Diana H. Wall, and Ann S. Zimmerman
2009. Accelerate Synthesis in Ecology and Environmental Sciences. Bioscience 59(8):699–701.
DOI:10.1525/bio.2009.59.8.11

Hackett, Edward J., John N. Parker, David Conz, Diana Rhoten, and Andrew Parker
2008. Ecology Transformed: The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and
the Changing Patterns of Ecological Research. Scientific Collaboration on the Internet.

Kohler, Timothy A., and Michael E. Smith (editors)
2018. Ten Thousand Years of Inequality: The Archaeology of Wealth Differences. University of
Arizona Press, Tucson.

Kohler, Timothy A., Michael E. Smith, Amy Bogaard, Gary M. Feinman, Christian E. Peterson,
Alleen Betzenhauser, Matthew Pailes, Elizabeth C. Stone, Anna Marie Prentiss, Timothy J.
Dennehy, Laura J. Ellyson, Linda M. Nicholas, Ronald K. Faulseit, Amy Styring, Jade Whitlam,
Mattia Fochesato, Thomas A. Foor, and Samuel Bowles
2017. Greater post-Neolithic wealth disparities in Eurasia than in North America and
Mesoamerica. Nature 551(7682):619–622. DOI:10.1038/nature24646

Project Summary, “The Creation and Division of Wealth and the Long-term Consequences of
Inequality: Views from Archaeology”

We propose to advance systematic understandings of the long-term causes and consequences of wealth inequality using a working-group approach that is unusual for archaeology. We have three main objectives. First, we will complement existing information on wealth inequality with data from regions not yet synthesized to provide a more complete description of the processes of wealth differentiation. Comparing these will then allow us to sharpen explanatory models for the rise of wealth inequality. Second, we will develop detailed high-temporal-resolution trajectories of wealth inequality in especially well understood regions to describe its dynamic relationships with political organization, violence, population size, and other key contextual variables. Where possible we will also systematize information on wealth creation, since a given degree of wealth differentiation might be experienced quite differently in a context of general prosperity than in situations of widespread poverty. Third, we will examine the degree of correlation of our main measure of wealth differentials in prehistory—house-size distributions—with household wealth and income in contemporary societies where we can control for potentially confounding factors such as local variation in prices and incomes. When archaeological proxies for key social processes can be shown to reflect the same processes in contemporary societies, it increases the value of archaeological data and interpretations for people today. The project is organized by the Coalition for Archaeological Synthesis (CfAS) and 5 administered by the University of Colorado Center for Collaborative Synthesis in Archaeology. The project adapts the collaborative, working-group research model pioneered by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis to the distinctive nature of archaeology. Thus, this proposal has an unusual dual nature: we argue for a particular model of research, as well as for a particular research effort.

Intellectual Merit

The project will test the validity and limitations of house-size distributions as proxies for income or wealth inequality by investigating relationships among these factors in contemporary societies. We will provide a more complete global picture of broad patterns in wealth inequality beginning in the Neolithic that expands on previous syntheses and supports deeper comparative analysis into its evolution. The project will develop finer-grained time series for societies having detailed archaeological evidence, supporting analyses into the dynamics of inequality through time within societies, and its direct and indirect social, economic, and cultural effects.

Broader Impacts

Archaeology’s unique ability to examine social processes over the long term will further public understanding and debate about social inequalities today—a fraught topic regularly occupying the front pages of our daily newspapers. The project will develop and examine a unique approach to synthesis via working groups, developed specifically for our discipline, which we predict will support greater participation by women, underrepresented minorities, and cultural resource management professionals, who are often excluded from research though they command substantial amounts of primary data. The large corpus of well documented data on inequality we produce will be deposited in tDAR, enhancing infrastructure for research and education. A popular volume on the prehistory of wealth inequality—informed by this project, but not funded by it—will complement CfAS webpages and professional publications to reach a wide variety of audiences.

 

Deadline for application: 28 June 2021.
Starting of the position: 1^st October 2021.
Host institution: Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy

TO APPLY: https://www.unive.it/data/29530/

We are pleased to announce a postdoctoral position available on the project, HealthXCross “Remaking Health in a Microbial Planet by Crossing Space, Time, Species and Epistemic Cultures”, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), 2021-2026 (Starting grant): https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/949742/it

HealthXCross is an ethnographic study of transnational and interdisciplinary open-data platforms that compare and aggregate microbial data across time, space, species and disciplines. These platforms aggregate – through advanced AI technology – microbial data with other kinds of data (medical, environmental, social etc…) to intervene in both environmental and human health. HealthXCross main objective is to analyse how health comes to be reconfigured through these platforms.

We look for a postdoctoral researcher who will focus on one selected platform with a One Health approach in partnership with an important technological hub for the aggregation of data, She/he will analyse, within the ‘One/planetary health’ theoretical debate, the interplay between ‘data governance’ of open-data and ‘data epistemology’. ‘Data epistemology’ refers to the biopolitics of knowledge at play in One/planetary health, an approach that aims at blurring the boundaries between disciplines and between humans and non-humans. Themes to be analysed by the researcher: politics and practices of open-data; interdisciplinary and data science; biopolitics of One/planetary health at the interface between human and non-human health.

What a postdoc with the HealthXCross team offers:

• to be part of a collaborative, ambitious, friendly and caring team
• opportunity to make research on a timely and relevant topic with an applied potential
• a gross salary of EUR 26 050/year (approx. EUR 1 900/month after taxes)
• funding for fieldwork and conference travel

What we expect from the postdoctoral research fellow:

• a PhD in Socio-cultural Anthropology, or Philosophy, Sociology (or cognate disciplines), and ethnographic and theoretical expertise in social studies of data; medical/environmental anthropology; One/planetary health
• To be able to work independently – in dialogue with the PI and the team – and demonstrated capacity to produce results (present papers at international conferences, publish articles in high quality journals, and contribute to public communication (website, social media)
• Ethnographic experience, also in interdisciplinary teams. A collaborative attitude is required because the aim of the project is to produce useful knowledge both for the community under study and for the scholarly community at large
• Very good command of English, both written and spoken

If you wish to have more information or discuss your ideas on how to contribute to the project, do not hesitate to contact the PI of the project Roberta Raffaetà (roberta.raffaeta@unive.it) prior to submitting the application.

Public Statement by the network of Anthropology Programs in Colombia (Note 1)

Since April 28th thousands of Colombian citizens are protesting in many parts of the
country. In both rural and urban areas, the young and old, men and women have taken
to the streets – whether individually or collectively, as associations and organizations –
to demonstrate peacefully in discontent with the country’s situation. Exercising their
constitutional right to protest, workers, members of the LGBTQIA+ community,
peasants, afro-descendants, students, indigenous peoples and a myriad of social groups
are clamoring for the National Government to listen to their demands.

This movement has been met with disproportionate violence on the part of the Armed
Forces, from the use of lethal and so-called “non-lethal” weapons against protesters to
abusive force against both the State’s own Human Rights institutions and those of
international organizations including the UN mission. (Note 2).  In just one week, such violations
and attacks on the physical, emotional and mental integrity of Colombian citizens have
resulted in deaths, wounds and atrocities committed by the Armed Forces (Police, Riot
Police -ESMAD[Note 3] – and Army). While the exact number of victims (both fatal and nonfatal)
of the public powers’ violent and unrestrained use of force remains unknown,
preliminary evidence and information bear witness to the situation’s gravity and
magnitude. (Note 4).

As Colombian citizens and academics we call for dialogue and condemn all forms of
violence. We remain persuaded that no form of violence should be used, much less
when the demands are that fundamental rights are guaranteed. We invite those
participating in the marches to continue protesting through peaceful forms of expression
and we especially demand that the National Government cease the use of force against
democratic protests.

Neither militarized street action, military occupation of residential areas nor the use of
force against citizens, the stigmatizing of protests or any other form of violence is
admissible under the democratic rule of law. Democracy depends on the legitimacy of
its institutions and cannot survive unless individual and collective freedom and Human
Rights are granted by government. The unrestrained use of physical violence on the part
of public powers seriously undermines the legitimacy of the State.

Ample and expressive processes of social mobilization, such as those which gained
momentum in 2019 and those currently underway in our country constitute a legitimate
form of protest that should be addressed through dialogue. An open and effective dialogue that recognizes their legitimacy and is committed to opening up democratic
solutions. Dialogue is much needed to solve the conflicts undermining the peace
agreements, to prevent returning to glyphosate as a means of burning down coca
plantations with its damaging effects on all other plants and forms of life, and to stop
attacks on the leaders of social movements.

We demand that the National Government cease its military response to social
discontent, grant the demilitarization of cities, refrain from stigmatizing protesters and
does not turn to the state of siege as a means of re-establishing public order, (Note 4). We also
demand that inquiries are made into allegations of assassination, disappearance,
arbitrary detentions and sexual violence and that in Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law are preserved in all circumstances. We require for clear and effective
channels to be opened up with protesters and social organizations.

As academics and university students we occupy spaces for the construction of
knowledge, reflection and critical analysis; for this very reason it is fundamental that we
raise our voice in the face of the unrestrained violence we witness on the streets. We
express our solidarity to all the relatives of people assassinated, disappeared or attacked
in the protests. Democracy is deliberative and grants the right to dissent, so we will
continue to contribute with public debates based on building the change that our country
needs.

May 4th 2021 14h30

Signed,

Colombian Society of Anthropology-ACANT
Department of Anthropology University of Andes
Department of Anthropology University of Antioquia
Anthropology Program of the University of Caldas
Department of Anthropology of the University of the Cauca
Anthropology Program of the University of Externado
Archaeology Program of the University of Externado
Anthropology Program of the Icesi University
Department of Anthropology of the Javeriana University, Bogotá
Department of Anthropology of the National University
Anthropology Program of the University of Rosario
Anthropology Program of the University of Santander

 

Pronunciamiento de la RED de Programas de Antropología en Colombia

Desde el pasado 28 de abril, miles de ciudadanos y ciudadanas colombianos se han manifestado en diferentes lugares del país. Tanto en áreas rurales como en centros urbanos, jóvenes y adultos, mujeres y hombres –de manera individual o desde asociaciones, colectivos u organizaciones– han salido a las calles para demostrar con un sinnúmero de expresiones pacíficas su descontento ante la situación del país. En este ejercicio del derecho constitucional a la protesta, obreros, sectores de la comunidad LGBTIQIA+, campesinos, afrodescendientes, estudiantes, indígenas y otros tantos segmentos de la sociedad, han reclamado al Gobierno Nacional que sus demandas sean escuchadas.

Como respuesta a estas movilizaciones sociales, se han recibido tratos desmedidos por parte de la Fuerza Pública, que van desde el uso de armas letales y “no letales” en contra de los ciudadanos marchantes (y no marchantes), hasta abusos en contra de organismos de Derechos Humanos tanto del propio Estado, como de organizaciones internacionales como es el caso de la misión de la ONU. (Note 2). Luego de siete días, el saldo de estas violaciones, abusos y atentados en contra de la integridad física, emocional y mental de los ciudadanos se ha traducido en muertes, heridas y otros hechos cometidos por la Fuerza Pública (Policía, ESMAD [Note 3]y Ejército). Se desconoce aún el número de víctimas (mortales y no mortales) a causa del uso violento y desmedido por parte de la Fuerza Pública; no obstante, las evidencias y la información preliminar, se convierten en testimonios de su gravedad y magnitud. (Note 4).

Como ciudadanos y como académicos, convocamos al diálogo y condenamos todas las formas de violencia. Reiteramos nuestra convicción en que ninguna forma de violencia debería ser ejercida y mucho menos allí donde se reclame la vigencia de derechos. Invitamos a quienes participan de las marchas a mantener siempre las vías pacíficas de expresión, pero, sobre todo, exigimos al Gobierno Nacional el cese en el uso de la fuerza en contra de las manifestaciones ciudadanas.

Ni la militarización de las calles, ni la ocupación militar de áreas residenciales, ni el uso de la fuerza contra los ciudadanos, ni la estigmatización de la protesta, ni ninguna forma de uso de la fuerza en contra de la población civil son admisibles en un Estado de Derecho. La democracia depende de la legitimidad de sus instituciones y solo pervive en tanto las libertades y los Derechos Humanos sean garantizados por los gobiernos. El uso desmedido de violencia física por parte de la Fuerza Pública en contra de las manifestaciones ciudadanas socava la legitimidad del Estado.

Los amplios y crecientes procesos de movilización social, que tuvieron un punto álgido en noviembre de 2019, y aquellos vividos en el país en los últimos días constituyen una forma legítima de protesta, que debe ser atendida mediante el diálogo. Un diálogo abierto y efectivo, que reconozca la legitimidad de la protesta y abra mecanismos para la solución democrática de los conflictos sociales acrecentados por el desmonte de los acuerdos de paz, el retorno del glifosato y el ataque a los líderes sociales, entre otros.

Exigimos al Gobierno Nacional el cese de la respuesta militar al descontento social, la desmilitarización de las ciudades, la no estigmatización de los manifestantes, y la no declaración de estado de excepción bajo la premisa de la restauración del orden público.3 Exigimos, además, que se realicen las respectivas investigaciones en los casos denunciados de asesinatos, desapariciones, detenciones arbitrarias, violencias sexuales y, en todo caso, el estricto respeto por los Derechos Humanos y el Derecho Internacional Humanitario. Así mismo, invitamos a que se creen los canales claros y efectivos para el diálogo amplio y participativo con los manifestantes y las organizaciones sociales.

La academia y las universidades somos espacios de construcción de conocimientos, de reflexión y análisis crítico; por esta razón es imperativo levantar nuestra voz ante la violencia desmedida que estamos viendo en las calles. Nuestra solidaridad con todas las familias de personas que han sido asesinadas, desaparecidas y agredidas en medio de la protesta. La democracia es deliberación y derecho al disentimiento, por eso seguiremos contribuyendo con los debates públicos y argumentados en función de la construcción de los cambios que nuestro país necesita.

4 de mayo de 2021, 2:30 pm

Firman,

Asociación Colombiana de Antropología – ACANT
Departamento de Antropología Universidad de los Andes
Departamento de Antropología Universidad de Antioquia
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad de Caldas
Departamento de Antropología Universidad del Cauca
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad del Externado
Programa de Arqueología de la Universidad del Externado
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad Icesi
Departamento de Antropología Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad de Magdalena
Departamento de Antropología Universidad Nacional
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad del Rosario
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad de Santander
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad Surcolombiana

 

Pronunciamento da RED de Programa de Antropologia na Colômbia (Note 1)

Desde o último 28 de abril, milhares de cidadãs e cidadãos colombianos estão se manifestando em diferentes lugares do país. Tanto em áreas rurais como em centros urbanos, jovens e adultos, mulheres e homens – de maneira individual ou associativa, coletiva ou organizacional – saíram às ruas para demostrar de forma pacífica seu descontentamento com a situação do país. Ao exercer seu direito constitucional ao protesto, trabalhadores, setores da comunidade LGBTQIA+, camponeses, afrodescendentes, estudantes, indígenas e outros tantos grupos da sociedade, exigem que o Governo Nacional escute suas demandas.

A resposta a estas mobilizações tem sido uma violência desmedida por parte da Forças Nacionais, desde o uso de armas letais e “não-letais” contra manifestantes (e não-manifestantes) até abusos cometidos contra órgãos de Direitos Humanos do próprio estado e de organizações internacionais, como é o caso da missão da ONU5. (Note 2). Em sete dias, o saldo de tais violações, abusos e atentados contra a integridade física, emocional e mental dos cidadãos pode ser visto em mortes, ferimentos e outras atrocidades cometidas pelas Forças Nacionais (Polícia, ESMAD[Note 3] e Exército). Ainda é desconhecido o número de vítimas (fatais e não-fatais) das ações violentas e desmedidas do Poder Público; não obstante, evidências e informações preliminares se transformaram em testemunhos da gravidade e magnitude da situação. (Note 4).

Como cidadãos colombianos e acadêmicos, chamamos para o diálogo e condenamos todas as formas de violência. Reiteramos a nossa convicção de que nenhuma forma de violência deveria ser usada, muito menos quando se exige que direitos sejam garantidos. Convidamos aos que participam das marcham que continuem protestando por meio de formas pacíficas de expressão e, sobretudo, exigimos que o Governo Nacional cesse o uso da força contra manifestações democráticas.

Nem a militarização das ruas, a ocupação militar de áreas residenciais, o uso de força contra cidadãos, a estigmatização de protestos, nem qualquer outra forma de uso da violência contra a população civil é admissível em um Estado de Direito. A democracia depende da legitimidade de suas instituições e apenas pode sobreviver quando as liberdades (de expressão, individuais e coletivas) e os Direitos Humanos são garantidos pelos governos. O uso desmedido de violência física por parte do Poder Público contra manifestações civis prejudica a legitimidade do Estado.

Processos de mobilização social amplos e expoentes, que tiveram seu auge em novembro de 2019 e aqueles vividos no país nos últimos dias, configuram-se como uma forma legítima de protesto que deve ser atendida por meio do diálogo. Um diálogo aberto e efetivo que reconheça sua legitimidade e se comprometa a abrir canais de soluções democráticas daqueles conflitos sociais aumentado ao desmonte de acordos de paz, o retorno do glifosato e o ataque a lideranças de movimentos sociais, dentre outros.

Exigimos que o Governo Nacional cesse a resposta militar ao descontentamento social, garanta a desmilitarização das cidades, não produza a estigmatização dos manifestantes e não declare estado de exceção sob a premissa de que irá restaurar a ordem pública7. Exigimos, ainda, que sejam investigadas as denúncias de assassinatos, desaparecimentos, detenções arbitrárias, violências sexuais e que se respeitem, em todos os casos, os Direitos Humanos e os Direito Humanitário Internacional. Pedimos também que sejam criados canais claros e efetivos de diálogo amplo e participativo, compostos por manifestantes e organizações sociais.

Enquanto acadêmicos e universitários, ocupamos espaços de construção de conhecimentos, reflexão e análise crítica; por esta razão, é fundamental que levantemos a nossa voz diante da violência desmedida que estamos vendo nas ruas. Expressamos a nossa solidariedade a todas as famílias das pessoas assassinadas, desaparecidas e agredidas nos protestos. A democracia é deliberativa e garante o direito a discordâncias, por isso seguiremos contribuindo com debates públicos que sejam baseados na construção das mudanças que nosso país necessita.

4 de maio de 2020, 14h30

Assinam,

Asociación Colombiana de Antropología – ACANT
Departamento de Antropología Universidad de Andes
Departamento de Antropología Universidad de Antioquia
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad de Caldas
Departamento de Antropología Universidad del Cauca
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad del Externado
Programa de Arqueología de la Universidad del Externado
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad Icesi
Departamento de Antropología Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá
Departamento de Antropología Universidad Nacional
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad de Magdalena
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad del Rosario
Programa de Antropología de la Universidad de Santander

Note 1: Thanks to Pedro Fermin for providing this English translation and to Maira Vale for the Portuguese translation.

Note 2: https://www.elheraldo.co/colombia/denuncian-ataque-contra-la-comision-de-la-onu-en-cali-814425

See also https://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/investigacion/procuraduria-abre-indagacion-por-ataque-a-comision-humanitaria-en-cali-585828

https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/funcionarios-de-la-defensoria-del-pueblo-de-la-procuraduria-y-de-organizaciones-de-dd-hh-fueron-amenazados-por-la-fuerza-publica/202119/

Note 3: The riot control squad ESMAD constitutes a separate branch of the Colombian National Police.

Note 4: https://www.eltiempo.com/politica/gobierno/paro-nacional-2021-balance-tras-cuatro-dias-de-protesta-en-colombia-585351

https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/paro-nacional-temblores-hace-el-balance-de-la-violencia-policial-durante-las-protestas/

https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/nicolas-guerrero-brayan-nino-y-otras-16-victimas-mortales-del-paro-nacional/?utm_source=Icommarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_content=El+Despertador+04-05-21&utm_campaign=Icommarketing+-+Suscripciones+-+El+despertador+4-5-21