Cosmopolitan Archaeologies

“What emerges out of these finely argued and selected essays is a reinvigorated sense of the applicability and importance of archaeology, beyond its subject boundaries. Functioning in an interdisciplinary manner each essay reaches out to philosophy, literary theory, politics, and economics, among other fields, to nourish a better understanding of cultural and global capital and flux.” - David S. Mora, Ameriquests
“The range and quality of the case studies is impressive, and they are in fact very cosmopolitan in the sense that they include great diversity but still form a coherent whole. Lynn Meskell provides a lucid, well-written introduction. . . . One of the exceptional values of Cosmopolitan Archaeologies is that it contains its own critique. . . . In the end, I cannot dismiss this volume as simply old wine in a new bottle, because the wine here is very, very good. These papers do an excellent job of critically considering the political nature of heritage and of archaeological practice. And, although such considerations are not new in archaeology, they have not become nearly commonplace enough.” - Randall H. McGuire, Journal of Anthropological Research
“Cosmopolitan Archaeologies is an interesting work and engages with many ideas of heritage management as well as illustrating how material culture and places are ascribed multiple meanings by different groups of people.” - Sarah Carr-Locke, Muse
”New pathways that unsettle prevailing state-centric discourses of ownership, memory and history are urgently needed. Cosmopolitanism Archaeologies
represents an important and thought-provoking addition to this program. Its encouragement to academic researchers and practitioners alike to be more engaged and reflexive about the contemporary political and economic contexts within which they operate is a trajectory I wholly endorse. . . . Cosmopolitanism Archaeologies brings the past and the present together: calling for an engagement with the political, a sensitivity to the ethical and a reflexivity towards possible complicity; difficult, but essential questions all of us working in the arena of cultural heritage must continue to address.” - Tim Winter, Cambridge Archaeological Journal
“Cosmopolitan Archaeologies is an important and thoughtful collection, one which demonstrates why the validity, not only the place, of the modern archaeological enterprise requires scrutiny.” - Timothy Clack, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
“Cosmopolitan Archaeologies challenges cherished assumptions about the practice of archaeology and the shaping and implications of interpretation. Drawing on recent work in the Americas, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, the authors show how the past is understood in the present and how dispensations of power generate ethics of practice. Through closely argued exemplars, the contributors show how broad interpretations are shaped in the cauldron of the local, and how the global must be understood from within the framework of diverse communities. The result is a book that serves as a signpost for the front line of archaeological interpretation for the coming decade.”—Martin Hall, University of Salford
“Approaches to the ownership of archaeological remains range from smug neocolonial assertions of entitlement to bitter recriminations against even well-intentioned scholars for their alleged (and often real) elision of contemporary local societies. In this unedifying rogues’ gallery, a small but growing group of thoughtful exceptions stands out. Actively representative of the new and critically important trend, the authors of this highly original collection deploy a nuanced understanding of cosmopolitanism to challenge the old, easy assumptions and to suggest alternative, politically sensitized, and morally generous understandings. Theirs is an urgent call to accept the challenge of complexity, especially where cultural ethics are concerned. It is also a deeply serious call to rethink the place, indeed the value, of archaeology in a world where bigotry and violence still threaten the very future of humankind.”—Michael Herzfeld, author of Evicted from Eternity: The Restructuring of Modern Rome
“Cosmopolitan Archaeologies is an important and thoughtful collection, one which demonstrates why the validity, not only the place, of the modern archaeological enterprise requires scrutiny.” -- Timothy Clack * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *
“Cosmopolitan Archaeologies is an interesting work and engages with many ideas of heritage management as well as illustrating how material culture and places are ascribed multiple meanings by different groups of people.” -- Sarah Carr-Locke * Muse *
“The range and quality of the case studies is impressive, and they are in fact very cosmopolitan in the sense that they include great diversity but still form a coherent whole. Lynn Meskell provides a lucid, well-written introduction. . . . One of the exceptional values of Cosmopolitan Archaeologies is that it contains its own critique. . . . In the end, I cannot dismiss this volume as simply old wine in a new bottle, because the wine here is very, very good. These papers do an excellent job of critically considering the political nature of heritage and of archaeological practice. And, although such considerations are not new in archaeology, they have not become nearly commonplace enough.” -- Randall H. McGuire * Journal of Anthropological Research *
“What emerges out of these finely argued and selected essays is a reinvigorated sense of the applicability and importance of archaeology, beyond its subject boundaries. Functioning in an interdisciplinary manner each essay reaches out to philosophy, literary theory, politics, and economics, among other fields, to nourish a better understanding of cultural and global capital and flux.” -- David S. Mora * Ameriquests *
”New pathways that unsettle prevailing state-centric discourses of ownership, memory and history are urgently needed. Cosmopolitanism Archaeologies represents an important and thought-provoking addition to this program. Its encouragement to academic researchers and practitioners alike to be more engaged and reflexive about the contemporary political and economic contexts within which they operate is a trajectory I wholly endorse. . . . Cosmopolitanism Archaeologies brings the past and the present together: calling for an engagement with the political, a sensitivity to the ethical and a reflexivity towards possible complicity; difficult, but essential questions all of us working in the arena of cultural heritage must continue to address.” -- Tim Winter * Cambridge Archaeological Journal *