Description
Book SynopsisIn recent years, postcolonial theories have emerged as one of the significant paradigms of contemporary academia, affecting disciplines throughout the humanities and social sciences. These theories address the complex processes if colonialism on culture and societywith repect to both the colonizers and the colonizedto help us understand the colonial experience in its entirety. The contributors to Archaeology and the Postcolonial Critique present critical syntheses of archaeological and postcolonial studies by examining both Old and New World case studies, and they ask what the ultimate effect of postcolonial theorizing will be on the practice of archaeology in the twenty-first century.
Trade ReviewThe contributors to this volume critically survey the politics and practice of archaeology globally. They look closely at both the promise and reality of 'postcolonial' archaeology, offering a significant set of critiques and questions; they ask, for example, Is the 'post' in postcolonial is really justified? Archaeology and the Postcolonial Critique presents a new and inspiring group of voices from a younger generation of scholars determined to make a difference. -- Lynn Meskell, Stanford University
Archaeology and the Postcolonial Critique, edited by Matthew Liebmann and Uzma Rizvi, is the most important theoretical treatment of postcolonial thought to arrive on the archaeological scene since the postcolonial critique gained multidisciplinary popularity during the 1980's.... ARchaeology and the Postcolonial Critique is one of those rare, measured volumes tht comes along every decade or so to lead us to new theoretical pathways. It is well reasoned, balanced, and above all pragmatic in its grounding of theory in marvelous case studies that make vibrant the importance of postcolonial thinking in decolonizing archaeology, wherever it is practiced across the globe. -- Peter R. Schmidt, 2010 * American Antiquity *
The authors and editors ofArchaeology and the Postcolonial Critique offer perspectives from regions often under-represented in Western publications. The case studies in the work provide broader examinations than the 'Western' reader normally encounters and, in so doing, move from local to global impacts, from homogenization to hybridity, and from particularistic focus to political reality. As the concept of 'world heritage' continues to globalize local histories and local cultures, the need for critical examination grows. Read this volume and you will fully question the role of contemporary archaeology in the social contexts within which the discipline operates. -- Joe Watkins
Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: The Intersections of Archaeology and Postcolonial Studies Chapter 2. A Brief History of Postcolonial Theory and Implications for Archaeology Chapter 3. Heterogeneous Encounters: Colonial Histories and Archaeological Experiences Chapter 4. Towards the Liberation of Archaeological Praxis in a "Postcolonial Colony:" The Case of Puerto Rico Chapter 5. Postcolonial Cultural Affiliation: Essentialism, Hybridity, and NAGPRA Chapter 6. Notions of Cultural Continuity and Disjunction in Maya Social Movements and Maya Archaeology Chapter 7. Decolonizing Methodologies as Strategies of Practice: Operationalizing the Postcolonial Critique in the Archaeology of Rajasthan Chapter 8. Indigenous and Postcolonial Archaeologies Chapter 9. Archaeology, the World Bank, and Postcolonial Politics Chapter 10. Disinheriting Heritage: Explorations in the Contentious History of Archaeology in the Middle East Chapter 11. Situating World Heritage Sites in a Multicultural Society: The Ideology of Presentation at the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka Chapter 12. Conclusion: Archaeological Futures and the Postcolonial Critique
