Archaeologists have recently been discussing what the future may hold for archaeology, a focus fi... more Archaeologists have recently been discussing what the future may hold for archaeology, a focus firmly situated within the context that the discipline of archaeology is authentic and legitimate and deserves to have a future. In this paper, I want to challenge these ideas and think instead about whether archaeology should even have a future. This line of reasoning is developed by examining the relationship between capitalism and the academy, neoliberal transformations to higher education, and some of the ways that archaeologists have responded. I conclude with some suggestions for alternatives, both for those working within the dominant capitalist academic structures themselves and those that eschew capitalism itself.
In this article, we take up Oilman’s (2014) challenge that historical archaeology should explore ... more In this article, we take up Oilman’s (2014) challenge that historical archaeology should explore the motion of capitalism both in space and time. We discuss capitalism as a dynamic totality and use this to develop the implications for historical archaeology in two different but interconnected ways. First, we use the rich context of Lowell, Massachusetts, to provide a detailed analysis of how capitalism developed in a single place. The second case uses several archaeological sites from across the U.S. to highlight capitalism’s motion from the perspective of a single commodity, coal. We link labor and the environment, past and present, to highlight the folly of seeing the exploitation of workers and the environment is as an accepted part of capitalist economic development. Understanding capitalism in motion is more than just a future research direction for historical archaeology because without these critical understandings people may not have a future at all.
Historical archaeologists have either ignored class or defined it as a category or objective enti... more Historical archaeologists have either ignored class or defined it as a category or objective entity. In this work, it is argued that viewing class as a formation provides a powerful tool for studying the past. Defining class in this way stems from a theory of internal relation s that sees class as a relational , analytical concept that operates at more than one scale or level of abstraction. Two examples demonstrate the class dynamics in different social and historic contexts. The first focuses on class at the community level, while the second looks at the class structure within a single household. Only through the process of abstracting class in real historic contexts can we operationalize class as an analytical concept powerful enough to understand internal social relations.
In this paper, I begin with ideas of difference and try to weave together aspects of our discipli... more In this paper, I begin with ideas of difference and try to weave together aspects of our disciplinary structure, contemporary theoretical critique, and research agendas to show how our emphasis on difference, multiplicity, and individual identity makes it difficult to comprehend all that we share and constrains our political action to only local concerns. Instead, the kind of archaeological research that I envision focuses on commonalities through questions of labor, class and capitalism geared toward developing an understanding of all that we as people share.
The rural hamlet of Peterboro, the home of Gerrit Smith, the nineteenth century's most famous soc... more The rural hamlet of Peterboro, the home of Gerrit Smith, the nineteenth century's most famous social reformer, has been portrayed as an idyllic and peaceful community free of class conflict. The extensive documentary record suggests a less harmonious situation and indicates that the community was fraught with struggle, engendered as much by Smith's reform efforts as by general class relations. This article examines class-based struggle through several vignettes, including a look at the voting patterns of the Liberty party in Smithfield, the social conditions of African Americans who lived in Peterboro, and the story of the temperance hotel.
International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2014
Archaeologists have largely embraced the idea that our discipline is political; that from its inc... more Archaeologists have largely embraced the idea that our discipline is political; that from its inception it has been intimately linked to capitalism and implicated with nationalist, colonialist, imperialist, sexist and racist agendas. Archaeologists have always validated our existence by the social relevance of our work, often with varying success. We believe that the best method may be to study history backward: to begin with the present result and look to the past to consider its preconditions. Bringing these understandings forward again allows us to project this potential into the future and examine the present complete with its ties to the past. This dialectical connection of past, present and future provides an important perspective on the long-term historical study of the social relations of capitalism. In this paper, we provide the larger theoretical context to elucidate these issues that form the foundation for this issue.
International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2014
Many connections have been made between the Great Depression and the current crisis in neoliberal... more Many connections have been made between the Great Depression and the current crisis in neoliberal capitalism, and many solutions proposed by the Left hearken to FDR's New Deal programs. While New Deal policies had real benefits, assuming that they were uniformly beneficial to all lower class individuals is shortsighted. This is clear from the vantage point of our research in the Finger Lakes National Forest. The New Deal's Resettlement Administration purchased these farms when implementing land-planning policies to move farmers off "sub-marginal" land to save families "stranded on sub-marginal farms." Our research demonstrates that governmental land-use programs saved some farms by sacrificing others. This case makes it clear that solving current crises need more than nostalgic yearning for a mythic past. Solutions must come from a thorough examination of the "real concrete" past, not simply the past as imagined.
International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2011
... conforms to middle-class concerns by focusing on when and how the middle classes went on holi... more ... conforms to middle-class concerns by focusing on when and how the middle classes went on holiday (Aron 1999; Brown 1995; Jasen 1991; Lofgren 1999 ... I would also like to thank Dr. Nina Versaggi and all the cast and crew at the Public Archaeology Facility who provided the ...
Archaeologists have recently been discussing what the future may hold for archaeology, a focus fi... more Archaeologists have recently been discussing what the future may hold for archaeology, a focus firmly situated within the context that the discipline of archaeology is authentic and legitimate and deserves to have a future. In this paper, I want to challenge these ideas and think instead about whether archaeology should even have a future. This line of reasoning is developed by examining the relationship between capitalism and the academy, neoliberal transformations to higher education, and some of the ways that archaeologists have responded. I conclude with some suggestions for alternatives, both for those working within the dominant capitalist academic structures themselves and those that eschew capitalism itself.
In this article, we take up Oilman’s (2014) challenge that historical archaeology should explore ... more In this article, we take up Oilman’s (2014) challenge that historical archaeology should explore the motion of capitalism both in space and time. We discuss capitalism as a dynamic totality and use this to develop the implications for historical archaeology in two different but interconnected ways. First, we use the rich context of Lowell, Massachusetts, to provide a detailed analysis of how capitalism developed in a single place. The second case uses several archaeological sites from across the U.S. to highlight capitalism’s motion from the perspective of a single commodity, coal. We link labor and the environment, past and present, to highlight the folly of seeing the exploitation of workers and the environment is as an accepted part of capitalist economic development. Understanding capitalism in motion is more than just a future research direction for historical archaeology because without these critical understandings people may not have a future at all.
Historical archaeologists have either ignored class or defined it as a category or objective enti... more Historical archaeologists have either ignored class or defined it as a category or objective entity. In this work, it is argued that viewing class as a formation provides a powerful tool for studying the past. Defining class in this way stems from a theory of internal relation s that sees class as a relational , analytical concept that operates at more than one scale or level of abstraction. Two examples demonstrate the class dynamics in different social and historic contexts. The first focuses on class at the community level, while the second looks at the class structure within a single household. Only through the process of abstracting class in real historic contexts can we operationalize class as an analytical concept powerful enough to understand internal social relations.
In this paper, I begin with ideas of difference and try to weave together aspects of our discipli... more In this paper, I begin with ideas of difference and try to weave together aspects of our disciplinary structure, contemporary theoretical critique, and research agendas to show how our emphasis on difference, multiplicity, and individual identity makes it difficult to comprehend all that we share and constrains our political action to only local concerns. Instead, the kind of archaeological research that I envision focuses on commonalities through questions of labor, class and capitalism geared toward developing an understanding of all that we as people share.
The rural hamlet of Peterboro, the home of Gerrit Smith, the nineteenth century's most famous soc... more The rural hamlet of Peterboro, the home of Gerrit Smith, the nineteenth century's most famous social reformer, has been portrayed as an idyllic and peaceful community free of class conflict. The extensive documentary record suggests a less harmonious situation and indicates that the community was fraught with struggle, engendered as much by Smith's reform efforts as by general class relations. This article examines class-based struggle through several vignettes, including a look at the voting patterns of the Liberty party in Smithfield, the social conditions of African Americans who lived in Peterboro, and the story of the temperance hotel.
International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2014
Archaeologists have largely embraced the idea that our discipline is political; that from its inc... more Archaeologists have largely embraced the idea that our discipline is political; that from its inception it has been intimately linked to capitalism and implicated with nationalist, colonialist, imperialist, sexist and racist agendas. Archaeologists have always validated our existence by the social relevance of our work, often with varying success. We believe that the best method may be to study history backward: to begin with the present result and look to the past to consider its preconditions. Bringing these understandings forward again allows us to project this potential into the future and examine the present complete with its ties to the past. This dialectical connection of past, present and future provides an important perspective on the long-term historical study of the social relations of capitalism. In this paper, we provide the larger theoretical context to elucidate these issues that form the foundation for this issue.
International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2014
Many connections have been made between the Great Depression and the current crisis in neoliberal... more Many connections have been made between the Great Depression and the current crisis in neoliberal capitalism, and many solutions proposed by the Left hearken to FDR's New Deal programs. While New Deal policies had real benefits, assuming that they were uniformly beneficial to all lower class individuals is shortsighted. This is clear from the vantage point of our research in the Finger Lakes National Forest. The New Deal's Resettlement Administration purchased these farms when implementing land-planning policies to move farmers off "sub-marginal" land to save families "stranded on sub-marginal farms." Our research demonstrates that governmental land-use programs saved some farms by sacrificing others. This case makes it clear that solving current crises need more than nostalgic yearning for a mythic past. Solutions must come from a thorough examination of the "real concrete" past, not simply the past as imagined.
International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2011
... conforms to middle-class concerns by focusing on when and how the middle classes went on holi... more ... conforms to middle-class concerns by focusing on when and how the middle classes went on holiday (Aron 1999; Brown 1995; Jasen 1991; Lofgren 1999 ... I would also like to thank Dr. Nina Versaggi and all the cast and crew at the Public Archaeology Facility who provided the ...
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Papers by LouAnn Wurst