The Continuing Impact of the Race to the Bottom and Other Issues of Political Economy in the Heritage Business World

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Cultural Heritage Laws and Policies, Political Economy, and the Community Importance of Archaeological Sites", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The problem of the client as the selector of the consultant is not a new one. While SHPO consultant lists were designed to help with the problem of allowing developers access to qualified providers, the process of self-certification does not necessary work as intended. The further problem of clients as the selectors of the consultant often plays out with projects awarded to the lowest bidder. A case study of one such project in southwest Michigan serves as an example of these issues. Farmstead sites identified by one consulting firm as having a high probability of association with the self-emancipated in the area of Ramptown, an abolitionist community that foiled the 1847 “Raid of the Kentuckians”, were investigated by another firm in a manner that failed to identify the sites resulting in a loss of the sites, their data, and the significance they might hold for descendants and other stakeholders.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Cultural Heritage Laws and Policies, Political Economy, and the Community Importance of Archaeological Sites

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow