Dichotomies and Dualities: exploring the landscape impacts of the Great Depression through an archaeological lens

Summary

This paper will present the early results from the landscape strand of a multidisciplinary research project examining the landscape impacts of the Great Depression (1929-39). The goal of this project is to archaeologically investigate the impacts of and responses to the Great Depression in  Northeast England, and to analyse these responses as interventions in the built environment, exploring their landscape impact. Early results indicate tensions between changes in wider culture (the coming of the car, consumerism and drives towards slum clearance) and the specific realities of living and working in a region with long-term economic problems, exacerbated by the Slump. This paper will also look at the methodological challenges presented by working in such a short time window that was immediately followed by WWII, which had far-reaching consequences on the landscape. Other themes include authoritarian responses to the body, capitalism, labour movements and the nature of state-led vs. private interventions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Archaeology Of Interwar Europe (1918-1939)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 676