Should archaeology have a future?

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-26-2019

Department

Department of Social Sciences

Abstract

Archaeologists have recently been discussing what the future may hold for archaeology, a focus firmly situated within the context that the discipline of archaeology is authentic and legitimate and deserves to have a future. In this paper, I want to challenge these ideas and think instead about whether archaeology should even have a future. This line of reasoning is developed by examining the relationship between capitalism and the academy, neoliberal transformations to higher education, and some of the ways that archaeologists have responded. I conclude with some suggestions for alternatives, both for those working within the dominant capitalist academic structures themselves and those that eschew capitalism itself.

Publisher's Statement

© 2019. Equinox Publishing Ltd. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.33840

Publication Title

Journal of Contemporary Archaeology

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