The Missing and the Marginalized: A Biocultural Approach to Forensic Anthropology at the US/Mexico Border

Adams, Elise J.; Goliath, Jesse R.

doi:10.3390/humans3030014

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 45 publications

(180 reference statements)

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“…These racist legacies are now an embedded aspect of biological/forensic anthropology as there is no standardized and widely implemented training for ethical research using human remains. This lack of training is despite decades of research and activism from anthropologists-particularly Black, Indigenous, POC, and marginalized scholars detailing how structural violence occurs postmortem (e.g., Goliath, et al [24], Adams, et al [97], de la Cova [148], Halcrow, et al [176], Riding In [177], Cobb [179], Adams and Goliath [184],…”

Section: Skeletal Collectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speaking Truth to Power: Toward a Forensic Anthropology of Advocacy and Activism

Adams,

Bedard,

Blatt

et al. 2024

Humans

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Over the years, the field of forensic anthropology has become more diverse, bringing unique perspectives to a previously homogeneous field. This diversification has been accompanied by recognizing the need for advocacy and activism in an effort to support the communities we serve: marginalized communities that are often overrepresented in the forensic population. As such, forensic anthropologists see the downstream effects of colonialism, white supremacy, inequitable policies, racism, poverty, homophobia, transphobia, gun violence, and misogyny. Some argue that advocacy and activism have no place in forensic anthropological praxis. The counterarguments for engaging in advocacy and activism uphold white, heterosexual, cisgender, and ableist privilege by arguing that perceived objectivity and unbiased perspectives are more important than personally biasing experiences and positionality that supposedly jeopardize the science and expert testimony. Advocacy and activism, however, are not new to the practice of anthropology. Whether through sociocultural anthropology, archaeology, or other areas of biological anthropology, activism and advocacy play an important role, using both the scientific method and community engagement. Using a North American approach, we detail the scope of the issues, address how advocacy and activism are perceived in the wider discipline of anthropology, and define ways in which advocacy and activism can be utilized more broadly in the areas of casework, research, and education.

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