Paper short abstract:

The Ebola outbreak presented an unusual challenge to the UK’s Ministry of Defence. In doing so, it both reinforced the importance of socio-cultural understanding within the Department and exposed the challenges of applying Anthropology to such complex issues, and within this particular institutional context.

Paper long abstract:

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) played a key role in the UK government's response to Ebola in Sierra Leone but in doing so faced a very different kind of 'enemy'. Cultural understanding was paramount, but how was this approached by Whitehall's defence and security mechanism and what in turn did this reveal about the MoD's own institutional culture? Recognising the importance of the cultural and behavioural factors in the spread of Ebola, socio-cultural analysts within MoD helped various elements of the department, the Armed Forces and other government departments understand the nature and complexity of human dimension of the rapidly unfolding crisis. In many ways, this work built on existing methodologies and processes; it illustrated typical forms of MoD engagement with "cultural and behavioural factors" in both its policy and operational domains and its interactions with other parts of Whitehall, and it reinforced the importance of this engagement. But the unusual experience of the Ebola response also exposed the challenges of applying Anthropology to such complex issues, and within this particular institutional context. In discussing how anthropological insights were used by MoD during the Ebola crisis, this presentation will explore some of these challenges and consider what both the MoD and the Anthropology community have to learn from this.