“Caring for Country”: Aboriginal Stories Strong for the FutureKarlu Karlu: Devil’s Marbles. Film. Produced by the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association. Director and Sound, David Tranter; Photography, Warwick Thornton; Editor, Dena Curtis; Composer, Tim Trindle-Thomas; Postproduction Supervisor, Rishi Shukla; Production Manager, Melanie Guiney; Executive Producers, Robyn Nardoo and Ray Lillis. Distributed by Ronin Films, Canberra, Australia. 2009 (in Warumunga with

Abstract

Goffman, Sahlins, Sewall, Giddens, Mbembe), one wonders where theoretical closure should be sought. But this may be a misdirected priority for a study that developed within a more applied orientation, when McGovern was West Africa Director of the International Crisis Group. McGovern’s masterful study of the structural dynamics, cultural repertoires, and quotidian routines of violence in Cote d’Ivoire exemplifies an activist anthropology that seeks to understand the world in order to improve it and for which the question “Why does war fail?” remains a matter of life and death.