Archaeology, Memory, and Politics in the 2020s: Changes in Methods, Narratives, and Access

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Archaeology, Memory, and Politics in the 2020s: Changes in Methods, Narratives, and Access," at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Only a few years into the 2020s, paradigm shifts have taken place in the ways that archaeology and heritage studies conduct research, work with communities, and communicate narratives about the past. During the COVID-19 pandemic, sites had to rethink their methods of disseminating knowledge and narratives of the past, prompting a focus on digital and distance research and education. As the Black Lives Matter movement fostered an enormous wave of social justice activity, direct action and public debate raised pressing questions about what pasts should be remembered and memorialized, unsettling many received narratives. Amidst the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, studying and understanding how the recent past is retold and ‘weaponized’ have taken on renewed urgency. This symposium brings together global and varied case studies that seek to understand and theorize such changes, asking: how can these movements toward inclusive and equitable research and retelling of the past be sustained?

Other Keywords
digital heritage • feminism • heritage • Ukraine • heritage at risk • Women's History • Estonia • Holocaust • Soviet heritage • dissonant heritage

Geographic Keywords
Europe • Europe (Continent) • Ukraine (Country) • Republic of Moldova (Country) • Crimean (State / Territory) • global • Zamosc (State / Territory) • Biala Podlaska (State / Territory) • Przemysl (State / Territory) • Chelm (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-4 of 4)

  • Documents (4)
Documents
  • Good Practice in Digital Commemoration of the Holocaust: An Analysis of COVID-Era Digital Programming at the Time of the 75th Anniversary of Liberation in Europe (2023)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Gilly Carr. Steve Cooke. Margaret Comer.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Archaeology, Memory, and Politics in the 2020s: Changes in Methods, Narratives, and Access", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. As the seventy-fifth anniversary of the end of World War II and the end of the Holocaust and the genocide of the Roma, 2020 was expected to be filled with Holocaust memorial ceremonies, cultural events, and educational programming. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic began in Europe,...

  • Heritage and Memory in Ukraine, 2022 (2023)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kateryna Goncharova.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Archaeology, Memory, and Politics in the 2020s: Changes in Methods, Narratives, and Access", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Since the war's start, UNESCO reports that over 150 cultural sites have been partially or totally destroyed in Ukraine. This destruction of cultural heritage was discussed at the UN Security Council; expeditions were sent to investigate the scale of damage and further steps on...

  • The New Historia: A Feminist Historical Recovery Project (2023)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Anne T Comer.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Archaeology, Memory, and Politics in the 2020s: Changes in Methods, Narratives, and Access", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. My paper will focus on the anthropological perspective of accessible design in creating social media content based on historical research. The mission of The New Historia is to create a global network of scholars from many disciplines who submit biographies of women of the ancient to...

  • Soviet Memorials as Dissonant Heritage in Estonia (2023)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Riin Alatalu.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Archaeology, Memory, and Politics in the 2020s: Changes in Methods, Narratives, and Access", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. We know from all periods of history that political turns are accompanied by re-evaluation of heritage, especially statues commemorating political leaders or victims or heroes of wars and political crimes. The Russian war against Ukraine provoked debates on Soviet monuments in all...