Heading south, looking north: Why we need a post-colonial archaeology

Nick Shepherd*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperJournal articleResearchpeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Archaeology has to re-think the terms of its practice, because current debate tends to intervene at the level of theory, which leaves the discipline ungrounded in a theory of practice or a conception of the historical coming into being of archaeology as a discipline. From a South African perspective, its grand narrative is primarily concerned with the development of social theory in the West but it does not provide - it cannot provide - an account of the formation of the discipline as a social and signifying practice situated in a broader social and political context. Central to this re-thinking, I argue, are questions of social value, and the role played by archaeology in projects of restitution, social justice, memory and identity.

Original languageEnglish
JournalArchaeological Dialogues
Volume9
Issue2
Pages (from-to)74-82
Number of pages9
ISSN1380-2038
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2002
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Archaeological theory
  • Colonialism
  • Postcolonial archaeology
  • South Africa

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