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The Archaeology of Ethnicity: Constructing Identities in the Past and Present
01 Jan 1997-
TL;DR: Sian Jones as mentioned in this paper argues for a fundamentally different view of ethnicity, as a complex dynamic form of identification, requiring radical changes in archaeological analysis and interpretation, and presents a comprehensive and critical synthesis of recent theories of ethnicity in the human sciences.
Abstract: The question of ethnicity is highly controversial in contemporary archaeology. Indigenous and nationalist claims to territory, often rely on reconstructions of the past based on the traditional identification of 'cultures' from archaeological remains. Sian Jones responds to the need for a reassessment of the ways in which social groups are identified in the archaeological record, with a comprehensive and critical synthesis of recent theories of ethnicity in the human sciences. In doing so, she argues for a fundamentally different view of ethnicity, as a complex dynamic form of identification, requiring radical changes in archaeological analysis and interpretation.
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17 Mar 2007
TL;DR: In this article, a discussion of the politics of identity by focusing on the Chilean Aymara case and the legitimacy of its appropriation strategies is presented, where the authors evaluate its impact on archaeologically based identities which are sometimes politically alienated, modified and appropriated to create new representations of the past legitimised in present time.
Abstract: Current research questions how archaeology has reconstructed social identities based on material culture and ethnic groups. Recently, some Native populations from the Tarapaca region, Northern Chile, have claimed their indigenous rights and recognition as Andean First Nations. Using existing laws and programs developed by the Chilean government, they have redefined themselves as organised local communities. Their claims question archaeological practice in the production and reproduction of scientific knowledge, and its social repercussions in the property of land, water and cultural heritage. Within the Latin American social context, archaeology sometimes has avoided playing a political role, consequently conceding certain histories above others. As a social science, the discipline needs to evaluate its impact on archaeologically based identities which are sometimes politically alienated, modified, and appropriated to create new representations of the past legitimised in present time. This paper furthers a discussion of the politics of identity by focusing on the Chilean Aymara case and the legitimacy of its appropriation strategies.
4 citations
01 Jan 2004
TL;DR: In this paper, Bowen et al. present an overview of archaeological investigations done at Overseas Chinese sites using currently available research, and show the results of excavations that have been done in Virginia City, and the small amount of remains that indicate an overseas Chinese presence there.
Abstract: Bowen, Kristin, M.A., May 2004 Anthropology The Chinese Presence in Virginia City, Montana: A Historical Archaeology Perspective During the latter half of the nineteenth century, a profusion of Chinese sojourners came to the western United States. Starting in 1849 with the discovery of gold in California a large population of Overseas Chinese lived and worked in the United States. Even though most western states had large populations of Chinese for around half a century, little is known about them, as in most places they left no written records behind. This thesis aims to “make history” for these people by using historic archaeology to examine the Chinese living in Virginia City, Montana from the 1860s to the 1910s. As Virginia City was not isolated from the outside world, I will set this history in a background of the Overseas Chinese in Montana and other western States, using historical documents. Also in this thesis I present an overview of archaeological investigations done at Overseas Chinese sites using currently available research. Then I will show the results of excavations that have been done in Virginia City, and the small amount of remains that indicate an Overseas Chinese presence there. Currently there is a lack of knowledge on the Overseas Chinese in Montana, and I am trying to change this. I feel compelled to put forth a database of knowledge on the Chinese in Virginia City to start trying to fill this void, as well as to aid future archaeologists dealing with the same topic or area. In the end of my thesis, I set up a research design for future archaeological work in Virginia City, in the Chinese area of town. Using maps and other accounts, I try and identify the most likely places to contain Chinese deposits. Finally, I propose research questions that could guide future excavations in Virginia City. Chair: Dr. John Douglas ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my thesis committee chair, John Douglas for all the help he gave me on this project starting from the beginning to the end. I want to thank Kelly Dixon for sitting on my committee, and for all the encouragement and information she provided me while working on this thesis. I also would like to thank Rich Clow for being on my committee and for suggesting helpfull changes. The Montana Historical Society provided me with all the historical photos for this thesis, and I thank them for that as well as all the people working in their library and archives for being incredibly helpful. Finally Priscilla Wegars also deserves thanks for she was frequently consulted for information on the Overseas Chinese, her specialty.
4 citations
TL;DR: This paper is the first to use an intersectional approach to issues of sex and gender in the context of large-scale ICT research, and its value lies in raising awareness, opening a discursive space and presenting opportunities to consider and reflect upon potential, contextualised intersectional solutions to such issues.
Abstract: Purpose
This paper aims to critically assess approaches to sex and gender in the Human Brain Project (HBP) as a large information and communication technology (ICT) project case study using intersectionality.
Design/methodology/approach
The strategy of the HBP is contextualised within the wider context of the representation of women in ICT, and critically reflected upon from an intersectional standpoint.
Findings
The policy underpinning the approach deployed by the HBP in response to these issues parallels Horizon 2020 wording and emphasises economic outcomes, productivity and value, which aligns with other “equality” initiatives influenced by neoliberalised versions of feminism.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations include focussing on a single case study, the authors being funded as part of the Ethics and Society Subproject of the HBP, and the limited temporal period under consideration.
Social implications
The frameworks underpinning the HBP approach to sex and gender issues present risks with regard to the further entrenchment of present disparities in the ICT sector, may fail to acknowledge systemic inequalities and biases and ignore the importance of intersectionality. Shortcomings of the approach employed by the HBP up to March, 2018 included aspects of each of these risks, and replicated problematic understandings of sex, gender and diversity.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to use an intersectional approach to issues of sex and gender in the context of large-scale ICT research. Its value lies in raising awareness, opening a discursive space and presenting opportunities to consider and reflect upon potential, contextualised intersectional solutions to such issues.
4 citations
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: In this article, the authors define the concept of "minior archaeology" as "the space left by a public archaeology imported from the English-speaking world, whose roots are clearly related with the politics of identity".
Abstract: The aim of this article is to set out what we have called �Minor Archaeology� from a theoretical standpoint. The term seeks to give a name and stand for the space left by a Public Archaeology imported from the English-speaking world, whose roots are clearly related with the �politics of identity�. Within a �Minor Archaeology� framework, the socialisation and hybridization of Archaeology with other disciplines is regarded as an unavoidable
step in order to incorporate the commodification of heritage in processes of local subjectivity building. Thus, our aim is not to set a fixed and exclusivist model of archaeological and heritage management � a Public Archaeology can also be �Minor Archaeology� � but to show the potential archaeology holds to foster social change and favour a more democratic stance at a wide territorial scale. The cases of study presented aim to illustrate the reflections exposed.
4 citations
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: The archaeology of PoWs offers valuable insights that can be valued not only within archaeology and anthropology but also more widely across cultural and military history, many of the creative arts, and memory and heritage studies as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The archaeology of PoWs offers valuable insights that can be valued not only within archaeology and anthropology but also more widely across cultural and military history, many of the creative arts, and memory and heritage studies. The archaeologists’ experience of studying and interpreting material culture gives a unique perspective on the built environments and products of internment. This is illustrated here under three broad thematic headings of confinement and embodiment, ethnicity and identity, and heritage and the commodification of the past, as examples of the ways in which PoW archaeology can contribute to broader themes.
4 citations