All recent posts on Carwil without Borders
Suwalki, 1937/2002
In the summer of 2002, I went on a winding journey from Berlin northwest to Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania in Germany, then east through Gdańsk and Białystok in Poland, to ultimately reach the town of Suwałki in northeast Poland. This route had been charted by my mother to follow our family tree, seeking out each place named…
Gratitude for South Africans at the ICJ
South Africa’s existence as the country it is now is the result of a remarkable global collective struggle that many US residents played a part in. This struggle was only in small measure a legal one, but it built on the ways democracy, anti-racism, and equality of all nations were built into the global legal…
First Generation B(l)ack
In 2002, my mother Carolyn James (1936–2023) and I traveled to Berlin, to Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, to Danzig, to Suwalki, to Warsaw, and to Auschwitz in search of our ancestors and relatives. This essay, from 2002, reflects on what I, a descendant of these lands but also of Africa, found. There is a different view of…
The scale and pace of death in Israel–Gaza war are staggering
This is not just another turn in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The extraordinary attacks by Hamas on October 7 and the thirty-one days of bombardment and invasion by the Israeli military that followed have led to a loss of life on an historic scale in Israel and Palestine, respectively. Researching and accounting for lethal political violence…
Three Palestinian photographers, three Israeli killings
In 2012, photographer and videographer Roshdi Sarraj (Twitter|Instagram) co-founded Ain Media with Yaser Murtaja (Instagram). Both used up-close and drone-mounted cameras to document the life of the everyday life, wartime suffering, and protest movements of Gaza. I became aware of Murtaja and Ain Media’s remarkable work through his last piece, documentary coverage of The Great…
Why I’m banning AI-generated text from my indigenous rights course
Okay, so I did the research and thought about it. This has been the leading exhortation for faculty on managing the likelihood that students will use generative AI tools to write papers in their classes: try it out, consider how it might be useful, and write a very nuanced policy. As designed, large language models…
Anthropology in contemporary fiction: A reading list
Where do anthropologists find themselves reflected in fiction? Here is a reading list for solitary summers or an escapist counterpoint to a required readings during the academic year.
Fifteen Bolivians were killed in social movement conflicts in 2022
Violent death cast a shadow over multiple social movements in Bolivia during the third calendar year of President Luis Arce. Deliberate killings came in clashes over land, mining, and the planned census, claiming eight lives, while tear gas detonated in a student meeting led to a stampede in which five were killed. A government bureaucrat…
Jean-Paul Sartre on his own anarchism
Iconic French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre is best remembered for his existentialism and efforts to integrate radical individual freedom with a left politics committed to opposing both colonialism and capitalism. One of the most visible intellectuals of his generation, Sartre engaged personally with the Algerian independence movement and Frantz Fanon (whose The Wretched of the Earth…
Arrest of Luis Fernando Camacho prompts fiery new Santa Cruz protest wave
Luis Fernando Camacho, governor of Santa Cruz department and regional leader in 2019 protests against Evo Morales, was arrested on December 28, 2022, as a suspect in the Golpe de Estado I (Coup d’état I) investigation. Camacho, whose public statements suggest that he and his father coordinated with the military and police prior to Evo…
Introducing Ultimate Consequences: A digital archive on lethal conflict in Bolivia, 1982–present (video)
This presentation introduces Ultimate Consequences, a quantitative and qualitative database, unique in its depth and completeness of coverage, of all conflict deaths in Bolivia since October 1982, a period of largely elected governments and political dynamism. The country’s 1977–82 return to democracy, 1985 general strikes, 2000–2005 antineoliberal protest wave, and its political crises in 2006–2008…
Finding our moral and political compass on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
How should opponents of oppression, centralized power, militarism, and greed take a stance on the war begun by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Here’s a rundown of the (mostly aligned) factors people of good conscience and/or people on the political left ought to consider as they take a stand. Note: This piece was born of a…
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About the blogger
Carwil Bjork-James is an ethnographer, photographer, writer, and participant in creative mass movements. He is assistant professor of anthropology at Vanderbilt University. (The views expressed here are his own, not those of the university.)
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