SfAA Statement on War Refugees

March 26, 2022

As we watch hundreds of thousands of people displaced from Ukraine, we, members of the Migration and International Dialogue Topical Interest Group of the Society for Applied Anthropology, at our March 22, 2022 meeting, expressed our fundamental human connection and concern for the MILLIONS of individuals and families who have to flee their homes due to hostilities. The current situation reminds us of all those throughout the world who have been forced to flee their homelands as refugees and asylum seekers. Our professional engagements make us aware of the horrendous human cost of the situations that force people to flee their homelands and what little attention we often pay to multiple conflicts that displace people. Many of us recall that we are immigrants, refugees, or the children of immigrants and refugees. We want to remind all parties that refugees and asylum seekers are protected by international laws, treaties, and conventions that governments must acknowledge and honor, as well as by the most fundamental demands of human decency.

Resolution on Commitment to Safe and Equitable Work and Educational Conditions

Voted for approval: December 22, 2015

Recent attention to gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the sciences, including the social sciences, reminds us of the importance of adhering to standards of ethical and professional behavior. Our Code of Ethics specifically states that:

To our social colleagues we have the responsibility to not engage in actions that impede their reasonable professional activities.

To our students, interns, or trainees, we owe nondiscriminatory access to our training services.

These responsibilities are inclusive of a commitment to providing safe and equitable environments for anthropological, and more broadly social scientific, inquiry and work. Therefore, be it resolved that the Society for Applied Anthropology is committed to supporting and encouraging safe and equitable work and educational conditions for our members.

Experts in the fields of gender discrimination and sexual harassment offer presentations at the Society’s annual meetings and publish in the Society’s journals. We encourage members who are interested in learning more about ways of promoting safe and equitable work and educational conditions to reach out to other Society members for information, consultation, and referrals. The Society sponsors a Topic Interest Group devoted to the study of gender-based violence, and Society members are encouraged to contact the Gender-Based Violence Topical Interest Group for 1) scholarship related to gender discrimination and sexual harassment and/or 2) instructional material to support accessible work and educational settings for all.

SfAA Statement on Global Violence, Systemic Racism, and Deep Inequities

June 5, 2020

We at the Society for Applied Anthropology are saddened and frustrated by the murder of George Floyd and many others. We are concerned about global violence, systemic racism, and deep inequities. The history and acts of racism can no longer be tolerated in our society and SfAA stands as ONE against it in any form. The fact that these types of events continue to happen in our world indicates that we still have a long way to go. As a professional society of applied social scientists committed to respect for human diversity, cultural understanding, and empowerment of all people, we repudiate all forms of hatred in our neighborhoods, communities, and world.

Stating our outrage is not enough. We must all do more to create a safe, just and inclusive world. We resolve to use action-oriented social science to catalyze change. Making change involves many things – personal and professional commitment, active listening, advocacy, teaching, training, policy work and more. Collaboration, grassroots and community-based efforts are key here. SfAA will continue to be a hub for meaningful conversation and sharing knowledge, resources and networks. All of this can and will contribute to social justice work in many different local and global contexts.

At SfAA, we embrace this challenge to work for a more just and inclusive world. We will support our members and others in the following ways:

• Applied research, on such topics as policing, labor rights, immigration, climate, education, and poverty
• Advocacy about such issues as health disparities and health care reform in the context of COVID-19
• Teaching, about such issues as structural violence and systemic racism
• Workshops to help people at different career moments build their “activist toolkits” – such as how to work with the media and do public advocacy; rapid responses using anthropological knowledge and skills in emergencies
• Building collaborative relationships with other professional organizations on human rights initiatives
• Supporting student members doing important work on social justice with, for example, the Human Rights Defender Award
• Ethical oversight over SfAA practices and how we interact with others
• Ensuring our Society’s membership reflects global diversity

At the SfAA, we embrace this challenge to work for a more just and inclusive world. We look forward to collaborating and connecting applied social scientists and others to address the urgent and important challenges that lasting change demands. Let us work together to make a just world.

Engaging Applied Social Scientists to Connect Worldwide: A Call for a Rapid Response Initiative for Action in Pandemic Times

April 14, 2020

Despite its human horror, disruptions to life as we know it, and uncertainty about the future, the current pandemic makes us realize the crucial relevance of global exchange: we are all affected and in many domains of daily life, including communication. Forced to forgo face-to-face annual meetings as pools of shared knowledge, we at the SfAA have learned that we can share much through virtual communication modes. This experience might change our means of communication in the future.

For the SfAA, which considers itself an international society for the applied social sciences, the impact of the pandemic on current modes of communication and exchange are phenomenal: virtual communication can allow for institutional and personal contacts with colleagues around the world, promote practices of social science application, and nurture cross-country collaboration in many forms. By international, we refer not to US researchers working abroad but, rather, to networks of researchers between and within countries aiming to advance knowledge beyond their own locales of practice, as well as to communicate their own local approaches.

The global scale of the current pandemic reminds us that we are all in this together. With the cancellation of our SfAA Annual Meeting, applied social scientists have been forced to forgo our usual rituals of connection and scholarly exchange. Yet, in the face of disruption and uncertainty, we have learned that we can communicate and connect with each other using virtual tools. For the SfAA, as an international society for the applied social sciences, this ‘turn’ to virtual communication represents an enormous opportunity to expand and strengthen our engagement with colleagues from around the world. This global engagement of applied social scientists is needed now more than ever, as a range of urgent and important challenges face people and communities around the world.

A recent virtual meeting of SfAA board members interested in promoting further internationalization arrived at consensus on the following statements:

(1) That applied social science is diverse as it is grounded in local contexts;

(2) That engaging many voices in multi-country dialogues will amplify knowledge as we learn from each other beyond this diversity;

(3) That international dialogue will help advance the production, use and dissemination of knowledge, both in general and grounded in local contexts; and

(4) That this type of engagement will result in actions geared at influencing policy-making both locally and world-wide.

In short, by doing what we know how to do, we will be best able to contribute to facing the pandemic and its economic, social and political consequences, while strengthening applied social science in the world.

A CALL FOR A RAPID RESPONSE INITIATIVE FOR ACTION IN PANDEMIC TIMES

Our world has changed, and we are all implicated in global future-making. We propose to host and/or facilitate international dialogues, including:

· Use SfAA as a networking platform to identify colleagues working in diverse settings as applied anthropologists

· Connect with these colleagues to strengthen the international base and activities of SfAA, and encourage more colleagues to participate in SfAA

· Propose, support and hold webinars, promoted by SfAA, to engage applied anthropologists in and outside the US

· Engage and coordinate activities with SfAA TIGs and partnering organizations with deep interest and expertise in these areas

· Solicit and prepare articles for all SfAA publications and virtual platforms on experiences in diverse settings

· Develop other ways to work together to connect applied social scientists worldwide.

Statement on Violence in Charlottesville, Virginia

August 15, 2017

The Society for Applied Anthropology strongly condemns the violence generated by racist hate groups in Charlottesville, VA. The values of SfAA include dignity, integrity, and worth of all peoples. We reaffirm our ongoing commitment to value human diversity in all its myriad forms, and we endorse the strong statement below issued by Ken Kimmell, President of the Union of Concerned Scientists:

“The racist rallies and bloodshed in Charlottesville this weekend are an echo of the darkest moments in American history. Extremists took to the streets in support of a racist and authoritarian ideology. Now, we have a duty to speak out against that ideology and its consequences. The bigotry and violence that threatened Charlottesville is unacceptable.

The torches, the chants, the weapons and the violence on display by these white supremacists were meant to send a message. They say to black and Latino communities, to immigrants and to religious minorities: you are not safe here, you do not belong here. Our leaders, and all of civil society, need to be loud and clear as they reject that message. We must stand in solidarity with those targeted by the forces of bigotry that rose in Charlottesville. We need to be on the side of equity, inclusion and justice, not racism and terror. …”

According to its founding principles of using social science knowledge and methods for the well-being for all of humanity in its diversity and fostering cross-cultural and racial understanding, the Society for Applied Anthropology strongly condemns the violent demonstrations held in Charllotteville, Virginia, USA. Such hate filled rhetoric and action directed against minorities in American Society should not be tolerated and we as social scientists will continue in our work to combat it.

Alexander (Sandy) Ervin
President

SfAA Statement on Diversity and Respect

November 19, 2016

We as members of the Board of the Society for Applied Anthropology affirm our ongoing commitment to value human diversity in all its myriad forms and to encourage all of our members to provide safety and basic human rights for everyone.

Anthropological perspective and practice are grounded in respect for all persons, civility, and thoughtful examination of ideas and policies. It is especially critical at times of uncertainty and change.

We recognize a common responsibility to support community members who may feel threatened and to counter hostility toward immigrants and other marginalized groups.

We pledge to continue to exercise and guard academic freedoms to examine and address such issues as perpetuation of inequalities and policies that oppress or degrade.We urge involvement of everyone in learning and working together to create positive social change, promote humane understandings, and encourage a variety of shared actions to further these goals.

SfAA Statement on Concealed Carry Laws

March 30, 2016

The SfAA is deeply concerned about the impact of recent Concealed Carry laws on freedom of expression in university classrooms and other settings. These laws allow licensed handgun carriers to bring concealed handguns into buildings on campuses. Our society is concerned that Concealed Carry laws undermine academic freedom and the teaching and research missions of universities, and that they introduce serious safety threats on college campuses with a resulting harmful effect on students, faculty and staff.

Please tell us what you think about “concealed carry” on college and university campuses. http://community.sfaa.net/profiles/blogs/sfaa-resolution-on-concealed-weapons

Resolution on Commitment to Safe and Equitable Work and Educational Conditions

December 22, 2015

Recent attention to gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the sciences, including the social sciences, reminds us of the importance of adhering to standards of ethical and professional behavior. Our Code of Ethics specifically states that:

To our social colleagues we have the responsibility to not engage in actions that impede their reasonable professional activities.

To our students, interns, or trainees, we owe nondiscriminatory access to our training services.

These responsibilities are inclusive of a commitment to providing safe and equitable environments for anthropological, and more broadly social scientific, inquiry and work. Experts in the fields of gender discrimination and sexual harassment offer presentations at the Society’s annual meetings and publish in the Society’s journals. We encourage members who are interested in learning more about ways of promoting safe and equitable work and educational conditions to reach out to other Society members for information, consultation, and referrals. The Society sponsors a Topic Interest Group devoted to the study of gender-based violence, and Society members are encouraged to contact the Gender-Based Violence Topical Interest Group for 1) scholarship related to gender discrimination and sexual harassment and/or 2) instructional material to support accessible work and educational settings for all.

Therefore, be it resolved that the Society for Applied Anthropology is committed to supporting and encouraging safe and equitable work and educational conditions for our members.