Catherine Lutz facts for kids

Catherine A. Lutz (born 1952) is an American anthropologist. An anthropologist is a scientist who studies human societies and cultures. She is a professor at Brown University. She also works at the Watson Institute. There, she helps lead the Costs of War Project. This project studies the financial and human costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Learning and Degrees

Catherine Lutz earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Arts (BA), in 1974. She studied sociology and anthropology at Swarthmore College. Later, in 1980, she received her PhD. This higher degree was in social anthropology from Harvard University.

Her Career Journey

Early in her career, Catherine Lutz taught at Harvard University. She also taught at Binghamton University. From 1992 to 2003, she worked at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2003, she joined Brown University. She was the head of the anthropology department there from 2009 to 2012.

Lutz was the president of the American Ethnological Society from 2001 to 2005. She also helped start the Network of Concerned Anthropologists.

In 2013, Lutz received a special award called a Guggenheim Fellowship. This award helped her write a book about how Americans think about war. For her book, she interviewed many people across the country. She wanted to understand their views on the wars that happened after 9/11.

Awards and Honors

• 2013: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
• 2010: Distinguished Career Award, Society for the Anthropology of North America
• 2008: Delmos Jones and Jagna Sharff Memorial Prize for the Critical Study of North America for Local Democracy Under Siege
• 2007-08: Matina S. Horner Distinguished Visiting professor, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
• 2002: Anthony Leeds Prize for Homefront
• 2002: Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing, Honorable Mention for Homefront
• 1993: American Association of University Publishers, Honorable Mention for Best Book in Sociology and Anthropology for Reading National Geographic
• 1980: Stirling Award in Culture and Personality Studies, American Anthropological Association
• 1980: C. S. Ford Cross-Cultural Research Award, Society for Cross Cultural Research

What She Studies

Military, War, and Society

Catherine Lutz is very interested in how the military, war, and society are connected. She has shared her ideas in many interviews.

In 2008, she talked about the United States' military presence around the world. She noted that the U.S. has over 700 official military bases in other countries. These bases are often set up after wars, like in Germany, Japan, Italy, and Korea.

Maintaining these bases is very expensive. It costs an estimated 140 billion dollars each year. Lutz also pointed out that these bases can sometimes make people in other countries feel anti-American. She explained that some bases might even support leaders who are not democratic. She also mentioned that many U.S. companies make money from building and keeping up these overseas bases.

Lutz also questioned the purpose of these permanent U.S. bases. For example, in Iraq, are they there to create stability or to protect oil? She believes that having permanent bases around the world does not always lead to peace. Instead, other countries, like China, might see them as aggressive actions by the U.S. Lutz suggests that these bases are more about "power protection." They help the U.S. control events in different parts of the world.

In 2011, Lutz discussed research she and her team did on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Their study estimated that about 6,000 U.S. troops died directly from violence. They also estimated that around 260,000 people died directly from violence in total. Many more people died indirectly from things like a lack of medical supplies or food.

Lutz's study also looked at the financial cost of these wars. They estimated that the total cost, including future expenses for veterans and interest, is around 5 trillion dollars. To compare, the 9/11 attacks cost about $500,000 to plan. This means for every dollar spent on 9/11, the U.S. spent millions on the wars.

The study also showed that the money spent on wars took away resources from other important areas. These areas include education and improving transportation. Lutz said that if the money had been spent on healthcare or education, about 800,000 jobs could have been created. Instead, these important sectors suffered.

Lutz also wondered why the U.S. government did not collect this information and share it with the public. She questioned why it took universities to study the costs years later. She noted that many companies made a lot of money from the wars. She also pointed out that there was a lot of waste and corruption. The study also found that the U.S. did not gain many friends by invading Iraq. Also, civil liberties and human rights were sometimes ignored for the sake of national security.

Lutz's research also makes us think about why we believe force works. She says some people might think that if bad things haven't happened to us, it's because of military forces in the Middle East. However, she believes the evidence does not support this idea. She says that the idea we have been kept safe by these wars is mistaken.

Lutz concluded her interview by saying the U.S. needs to learn from the mistakes made in these wars. She believes there isn't enough time in our political culture for deep thought about these events. She criticized the idea of simply "turning the page" on Iraq. She argues that we need to understand what happened and why, so it doesn't happen again. The goal in Iraq and Afghanistan was to free people and create democracy, but this did not truly happen. Lutz emphasizes how important it is to examine and reflect on these wars.

Other Interests

Lutz also studies other topics. These include race and gender, democracy, cars around the world, photography, and U.S. history.

Videos

• "Costs of War at home", Catherine Lutz speaking at IVAW conference
• "U.S. Wars in Projected to Cost Nearly $4 Trillion With Hundreds of Thousands Dead", Democracy Now!, June 30, 2011.

See also

In Spanish: Catherine Lutz para niños