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Subduing Tendencies? Colonialism, Capitalism, and Comparative Atlantic Archaeologies

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The Archaeology of Capitalism in Colonial Contexts

Part of the book series: Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology ((CGHA))

Abstract

Current trends in historical archaeology emphasize capitalism and colonial discourse in examining commonalties in the archaeologies of the “modern world,” yet the endless rehashing of the material inequities inherent to capitalism often produces worrying uniform interpretations of diverse material assemblages. Drawing from Irish case studies, the ways in which past individuals negotiated macroscalar economic and political inequities in locally rooted ways are examined in an effort to challenge the subduing tendencies of “archaeologies of capitalism.” Particular attention is paid to the ethics of contemporary archaeological practice when addressing colonial legacies.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Sarah Croucher and Lindsay Weiss for their patience, and especially for pointing me in new directions with their incisive and helpful comments; to Martin Hall for challenging me to be overt about my own positionality; and to Charles Orser for his continued support of and commitment to Irish historical archaeology. The following colleagues informed this essay far more than they may be aware (or may have wished!): Nick Brannon, Colin Breen, Colm Donnelly, Robert Heslip, Paul Logue, Thomas MacErlean, Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, Franc Myles, Ruairí Ó Baoill, Deirdre O’Sullivan, Helen Perry, Gemma Reid, Colin Rynne, Sarah Tarlow, and Buck Woodard.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queens University Belfast, Belfast, UK

    Audrey Horning

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  1. Audrey Horning
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Correspondence to Audrey Horning .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Anthropology, Wesleyan University, High Street 281, Middletown, 06459, USA

    Sarah K. Croucher

  2. Stanford Archaeology Center, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, Amsterdam Avenue 1200, Palo Alto, 94305, California, USA

    Lindsay Weiss

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Horning, A. (2011). Subduing Tendencies? Colonialism, Capitalism, and Comparative Atlantic Archaeologies. In: Croucher, S., Weiss, L. (eds) The Archaeology of Capitalism in Colonial Contexts. Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0192-6_3

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