Laura Nader: a Life of Teaching, Investigation, Scholarship and Scope
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Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California LAURA NADER Laura Nader: A Life of Teaching, Investigation, Scholarship and Scope Interviews conducted by Lisa Rubens and Samuel Redman in 2013 Copyright © 2014 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Laura Nader dated August 28, 2013. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/cite.html It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Laura Nader “LAURA NADER: A Life of Teaching, Investigation, Scholarship and Scope” conducted by Lisa Rubens and Samuel Redman in 2013, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2014. Laura Nader iv Laura Nader is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, where she has worked since 1960. v Table of Contents—Laura Nader Interview History by Lisa Rubens vii Introduction by David Price ix Interview 1: June 10, 2013 Audio File 1 1 Family background and parents’ immigration to the U.S.— Growing up in a small, diverse New England town — Family values nurture the life of the mind and social engagement — Attending Wells College: reflecting on aspects of culture at a women’s college; studying Spanish and Spanish literature; defending senior thesis on Mexican revolutionary writers — Decision to study anthropology with Clyde Kluckhohn at Harvard University Audio File 2 19 Reflecting on the four-field study of anthropology at Harvard — Issues of disciplinary boundaries and specialization in anthropology — Influence of professors at Harvard, particularly John and Beatrice Whiting and Clyde Kluckhohn — Invited to join UC Berkeley’s Department of Anthropology —The role of theory in Anthropology — Fieldwork in two Zapotec villages Interview 2: June 14, 2013 Audio File 3 40 First year at Berkeley: reception in the department; teaching a full load and completing a dissertation — Assessing the status and ranking of the department — Developing collegial relationships — Publishing Talea and Juquila: A Comparison of Zapotec Social Organization — Reflecting on the use of comparative study — Thoughts on women centered studies and feminism — Marriage, children and managing family life — A year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences: Genesis of the Berkeley Village Law Project Audio File 4 60 Fieldwork in a Shia Lebanese village — Comparing dispute mediation in Lebanese and Mexican villages — Producing first film: To Make the Balance — Evaluating ethical concerns of the American Anthropology Association — The intellectual value of indignation — Serving on the Carnegie Council on Children — Enlisted by the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council to study alternative energy — Writing and teaching about energy — Offers for various university administrative positions — A fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center — Teaching at Wellesley College and Harvard Law School vi Interview 3: June 20, 2013 Audio File 5 84 Teaching at Yale Law School — Helping to found, and involvement with, the Law and Society Association — Evolution of the concept of and course on Controlling Processes — Publishing Naked Science: Anthropological Inquiry Into Boundaries, Power, and Knowledge — Working and publishing with graduate students—Collaborating with colleagues and sister, Claire Nader — Writing about taxation — Developing a theory of “lack” — Reflecting on two recent books: Plunder: When the Rule of Law is Illegal; Culture and Dignity: Dialogues between the Middle East and the West — More on the issue of ethics in anthropology Audio File 6 101 Observations about UC Berkeley’s Department of Anthropology and current issues in the field of anthropology — More on interest in, and publications on, energy — Discusses supervising students’ field work — Interest in conflict in the Middle East — Reflections on the history of UC Berkeley’s Lowie/Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology Interview 4: June 26, 2013 Audio File 7 121 Comparing students of the l960s to current students — On changes in the administrative structure of UC Berkeley — On issues of gender and ethnicity on campus; concern about separate women’s and ethnic studies departments — Interest in academic freedom for faculty, students and at the national labs — Opposing Berkeley’s financial commitment to inter-collegiate athletics — Reflecting of the corporatization of the university — The 2012 symposium “Anthropology in the World: Celebrating Laura Nader’s Fifty Years of Teaching at UC Berkeley” — Reflections on the Regents of the University of California Audio File 8 142 Discusses John Yoo’s role as alleged author of US torture policy — Evolution of research in and publications on the Middle East — Organizing an exhibit of Arab women artists — Future topics to research — On the relationship between teaching and research — Thoughts on war, vengeance and terrorism — Current book project What the Rest Think of the West — Thoughts on “unleashing the anthropological imagination” — What is important to teach her students — On curiosity and optimism Appendix (C.V. and Bibliography) 162 vii Interview History Laura Nader is a distinguished professor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Anthropology, was chosen by popular nomination, by the campus community to be the 2013 Regional Oral History Office “Class of 1931” interviewee. This alumni endowment honors a UC Berkeley faculty or staff member who has made a significant contribution to the life of the campus, and Professor Nader more than fits the criteria. Laura Nader was the first tenured woman in her department. She has taught thousands of undergraduates in popular courses such as Anthropology of the Law, Cultural Anthropology and Energy, Culture and Society and Controlling Processes. She has supervised more than a hundred PhD students, many of whom now teach or work in prestigious institutions. She has published research papers and co-edited books with several of her former students. Professor Nader has served on numerous department and campus committees and has taken principled public positions on many of the controversies that have arisen at Cal. And as a scholar, with ten books and close to 290 publications, her breathtaking range of interests and expertise have led her to be a visiting scholar at Yale, Harvard and Stanford, among other institutions, and a sought-after speaker, consultant and advisor for prominent national and international organizations. As such, Laura Nader is an outstanding ambassador for UC Berkeley. During June and July 2013, two historians with the Regional Oral History Office, Sam Redman, who specializes in anthropology, and Lisa Rubens, who focuses on university history, spent eight hours interviewing Professor Nader about her life, her years at UC Berkeley, her scholarship and her extensive public service. By all rights an anthropologist of Nader’s accomplishment and stature deserves an interview of at least 20 hours; perhaps more interviews will be forthcoming. Nevertheless, in the four sessions during which the following interviews took place, we were able to capture most of the critical influences, experiences and achievements in her long career. And perhaps more importantly, we have documented Professor Nader’s razor-sharp intelligence, her vast storehouse of knowledge and vivid recall, her irrepressible curiosity, her congenial personality and the optimistic nature that undergirds her persistent battle against injustice. These interviews were videotaped in Professor Nader’s office on the third floor of Kroeber Hall. We sat on a bench that had been in Alfred Kroeber’s office and that Professor Nader rescued when Kroeber died shortly after she began teaching at Berkeley. Nader sat at