Decolonizing the Persuasive Power of Paradigms and Discourse

Summary

The historical archaeologies of the Chinese Diaspora has made progress departing from its assimilation/acculturation roots.  There remains, however, much room for future growth, particularly from a critical Ethnic Studies/Asian American Studies standpoint.  This paper utilizes an interdisciplinary perspective to consider how increased self-reflexivity along with critical interrogation and consciousness must be integral to how we approach our work on racialized communities.  We must question the persuasive power of paradigms that otherwise bind us to dominant discourse about who we are studying, and work towards decolonizing this field that has historically been a tool of the colonizer to study the Other.  Moreover, we must consider the role of power, politics, and communities in our research: whose histories are we, as archaeologists, in a position of power and privilege to tell; who are our stakeholders; and how can we truly make our research community-oriented and community-collaborative.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Being Chinese: Current Scholarship on the Chinese Diaspora in 19th-Century North America   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 226