Are we postcolonial yet? Tales from the battlefield
Are we postcolonial yet? Tales from the battlefield
This paper questions whether archaeological thinking and practice have become post-colonial and ethically and politically aware and sophisticated, and comments on a number of instances (militarization of archaeology, sponsorship by ethically tainted global corporations, global publishing practices, the declaration of western metropolitan museums as “universal”) where neo-colonial regimes of truth and practice are present, even amongst groups and organisations that advocate de-colonisation. It proposes that new theoretical insights are generated at the moments of inevitable and at times necessary confrontations with these neo-colonial regimes. Finally, it conjures up the figure of new global immigrant in order to not only highlight their plight and the need for archaeologists to fight racism and xenophobia, but also to point out that the exilic position, the on-going questioning of our deep-left attachments to nation-states, institutions and structures, provides the space for radical critique and for new ontological possibilities to emerge.
post-colonialism, ethics, politics, immigrants, decolonisation, ontology
67-76
Hamilakis, Y.
e40e6a1a-e416-4561-bf0d-e9e3337ede6a
April 2012
Hamilakis, Y.
e40e6a1a-e416-4561-bf0d-e9e3337ede6a
Hamilakis, Y.
(2012)
Are we postcolonial yet? Tales from the battlefield.
Archaeologies: The Journal of the World Archaeological Congress, 8 (1), .
(doi:10.1007/s11759-012-9200-5).
Abstract
This paper questions whether archaeological thinking and practice have become post-colonial and ethically and politically aware and sophisticated, and comments on a number of instances (militarization of archaeology, sponsorship by ethically tainted global corporations, global publishing practices, the declaration of western metropolitan museums as “universal”) where neo-colonial regimes of truth and practice are present, even amongst groups and organisations that advocate de-colonisation. It proposes that new theoretical insights are generated at the moments of inevitable and at times necessary confrontations with these neo-colonial regimes. Finally, it conjures up the figure of new global immigrant in order to not only highlight their plight and the need for archaeologists to fight racism and xenophobia, but also to point out that the exilic position, the on-going questioning of our deep-left attachments to nation-states, institutions and structures, provides the space for radical critique and for new ontological possibilities to emerge.
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Published date: April 2012
Keywords:
post-colonialism, ethics, politics, immigrants, decolonisation, ontology
Organisations:
Archaeology
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Local EPrints ID: 346275
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/346275
ISSN: 1555-8622
PURE UUID: e177026f-f779-4447-9f08-f41e98ed2186
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Date deposited: 14 Jan 2013 16:42
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 12:34
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Y. Hamilakis
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