Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Will Historical Archaeology Escape Its Western Prejudices to Become Relevant to Africa?

Will Historical Archaeology Escape Its Western Prejudices to Become Relevant to Africa? A major problem facing North American approaches to historical archaeology is the exclusionary manner in which the discipline is defined. By confining historical archaeology to the era of capitalism and colonialism, we declare that the indigenous histories of many areas of the globe are of no interest to such an intellectual agenda. If we practice an historical archaeology that only valorizes the colonial experience, then what happens to history making that engaged cultures in the pre-capitalist and pre-modern era? Such approaches separate the histories of people in Africa from those of the West, and, is in effect, academic apartheid. To remedy this disjuncture, we interrogate how historical archaeology may escape the bounds of implicit racism in its denial of historicity before literacy. We suggest that breaking the chains of exclusion is the only way to realize an inclusive archaeology sensitive to all history making projects. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archaeologies Springer Journals

Will Historical Archaeology Escape Its Western Prejudices to Become Relevant to Africa?

Archaeologies , Volume 14 (3) – Jul 11, 2018

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/will-historical-archaeology-escape-its-western-prejudices-to-become-h9WHuhmkaB

References (122)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by World Archaeological Congress
Subject
Social Sciences; Archaeology; Anthropology; Cultural Heritage
ISSN
1555-8622
eISSN
1935-3987
DOI
10.1007/s11759-018-9342-1
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

A major problem facing North American approaches to historical archaeology is the exclusionary manner in which the discipline is defined. By confining historical archaeology to the era of capitalism and colonialism, we declare that the indigenous histories of many areas of the globe are of no interest to such an intellectual agenda. If we practice an historical archaeology that only valorizes the colonial experience, then what happens to history making that engaged cultures in the pre-capitalist and pre-modern era? Such approaches separate the histories of people in Africa from those of the West, and, is in effect, academic apartheid. To remedy this disjuncture, we interrogate how historical archaeology may escape the bounds of implicit racism in its denial of historicity before literacy. We suggest that breaking the chains of exclusion is the only way to realize an inclusive archaeology sensitive to all history making projects.

Journal

ArchaeologiesSpringer Journals

Published: Jul 11, 2018

There are no references for this article.