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Dystopian Archaeologies: the Implementation of the Logic of Capital in Heritage Management

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Abstract

Since the 1980s, privatisation of the archaeological sector mirrored its contextual political economy. After the financial crisis of 2008, and its devastating effects on the professional community, this system has been subject to more and more criticism. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the highly problematic setup of privatised archaeology for practitioners, material culture, and the vast majority of the public. The archaeological systems in a number of countries, including Canada, Australia, and Japan are explored. A radical change from the dominant logic of capital, towards cooperative and collaborative alternatives, viable in the long-term, and relinked to people, in the present is suggested as a more feasible alternative.

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Acknowledgments

I am particularly grateful to the editors of this volume, to Prof. Yannis Hamilakis, and to all the individuals who participated in this research in Quebec, Vitoria and Japan. I would also like to thank the Australian Endeavour Awards (2012) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2013) for their financial support. Finally, I would like to thank Philippa Currie and Maria Ali-Adib for their precious help.

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  1. Fernand Braudel Research Fellow, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Maison Archéologie Ethnologie), Paris, France

    Nicolas Zorzin

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Correspondence to Nicolas Zorzin.

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Zorzin, N. Dystopian Archaeologies: the Implementation of the Logic of Capital in Heritage Management. Int J Histor Archaeol 19, 791–809 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-015-0315-4

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