Requiem for a War Robot
An anthropologist explores the brave new world of virtual warfare—and the fraught relationship between humans and machines.
Roberto J. González
Roberto J. González is the chair of the anthropology department at San José State University. He has authored several articles and books, including Zapotec Science: Farming and Food in the Northern Sierra of Oaxaca, American Counterinsurgency: Human Science and the Human Terrain, Militarizing Culture: Essays on the Warfare State, Connected: How a Mexican Village Built Its Own Cell Phone Network, and most recently, War Virtually: The Quest to Automate Conflict, Militarize Data, and Predict the Future. Follow him on Twitter @gonzalez_r_j.
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Why a Mexican Village’s DIY Cellphone Network Matters
When an Indigenous community in Oaxaca, snubbed by telecom giants, created its own mobile network, things didn’t go exactly as planned. But the experiment revealed the strength of its social bonds.