Dispatch I. Amongst 'Our Selves'

Dispatches is a Critique forum where contributors can comment on issues which do not necessarily fall within the scope of a scholarly article. The first Dispatch in this issue concerns hiring practices; the second concerns ethnocidal practices. Both are awkward pieces, the first revealing the drab—if still compelling—politics of recruitment and reproduction of the anthropological workforce; it also shows distress ingly clearly the kind of manipulation of ethnic stereotypes which anthro pologists frequently claim as one of the main objects of their critical ire. The second dispatch reveals some of the realpolitik aspects of 'research in exotic places', in this case the State's alliance with private mining enterprise in convincing Indian groups that their interests are best represented by a cynical and criminal fraternity.We encourage readers to avail themselves of the Dispatches section of Critique.