Building an Anarchist Historical Archaeological Theory

Summary

The goal of this paper is the articulation of an anarchist historical archaeological theory. The emergence of anarchism as a political philosophy in the late-17th/early-18th centuries suggests that historical archaeologists are well-positioned to articulate the intersections between anarchy and archaeology. This paper provides a brief overview of the central tenets of anarchist theory, and particularly its robust criticism of hierarchy. Anarchists continue to explore issues related to horizontal power structures, decentralization, free association, and various approaches to consensus building. These concerns neatly intersect well-established and emerging concenrs in historical archaeology, and an anarchist perspective forces a re-framing of many of these concerns. For instance, the focus of historical archaeology's critique of capitalism, when viewed through an anarchist lens shifts from exploitation to domination. Ultimately, the author contends that one does not have to identify as an anarchist to find value in the diversity of perspectives within the umbrella of anarchism.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017   •
• Anarchism and Historical Archaeology

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 665