The Politics of the Past
1st Edition
Published on 25. August 1994
Book
Paperback/Softback
346 pages
978-0-415-09554-9 (ISBN)
Description
'History is written by the winners' is the received wisdom. This book explains why historical interpretation has to incorporate perspectives from those other than 'winners', and demonstrates archaeology's crucial role in this wide-ranging approach. The book draws more on Africa, Afro-America, Australasia and Oceania than on Europe, the source of the traditionally dominant perspective in archaeology. The four organizing themes of The Politics of the Past are the forms and consequences of the Eurocentric heritage, the conflicting perspectives of rulers and ruled, the significance of administrative and institutional rivalries, and the cleavages that divide professional from popular views of archaeology.
Archaeologists, anthropologists, historians and other scholars will find The Politics of the Past illuminating and provocative. It will enrich historical and archaeological inquiry and interpretation, and ramify their relevance for public policy.
Archaeologists, anthropologists, historians and other scholars will find The Politics of the Past illuminating and provocative. It will enrich historical and archaeological inquiry and interpretation, and ramify their relevance for public policy.
Reviews / Votes
'This book deals with ideas about cultural control and ownership and the reconstruction of past reality...Anyone who still thinks the past is, or can be, apolitical would do well to read it, whether their interest is in portable objects, in monuments or in abstract ideas.' - Antiquity`An anthology containing vital material' - Tim Megarry, Greenwich University
'The essays in this volume are valuable and thought-provoking. - American Antiquity
'...these volumes retain their contemporary relevance and their value as collections or related papers.' - Harry Allen, Anthropology Department, University of Auckland.
'Well worth reading' - Man
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
529 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-415-09554-9 (9780415095549)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Peter Gathercole | David Lowenthal
The Politics of the Past
E-Book
01/2004
Routledge
€64.49
Available for download
Peter Gathercole | David Lowenthal
The Politics of the Past
E-Book
01/2004
Routledge
€64.49
Available for download
Persons
Peter Gathercole, Darwin College, Cambridge. David Lowenthal, University College London.
Content
Introduction THE HERITAGE OF EUROCENTRITY 1 The Western world view in archaeological atlases 2 Public presentations and private concerns: archaeology in the pages of National Geographic 3 American nationality and ethnicity in the depicted past 4 Afro-Americans in the Massachusetts historical landscape 5 Black people and museums: the Caribbean Heritage Project in Southampton 6 'Volk und Germanentum': the presentation of the past in Nazi Germany RULERS AND RULED 7 Maori control of the Maori heritage 8 Nga Tukemata: Nga Taonga o Ngati Kahungunu (The awakening: the treasures of Ngati Kahungunu) 9 God's police and damned whores: images of archaeology in Hawaii 10 Aboriginal perceptions of the past: the implications for cultural resource management in Australia 11 Search for the missing link: archaeology and the public in Lebanon 12 The legacy of Eve 13 Museums: two case studies of reaction to colonialism POLITICS AND ADMINISTRATION 14 Cultural education in West Africa: archaeological perspectives 15 The development of museums in Botswana: dilemmas and tensions in a front-line state 16 A past abandoned? Some experiences of a regional museum in Botswana Sandy Grant 17 Archaeology and museum work in the Solomon Islands 18 Fifty years of conservation experience on Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE PEOPLE 19 Didactic presentations of the past: some retrospective considerations in relation to the Archaeological and Ethnographical Museum, Lodz, Poland 20 Reconstruction as interpretation: the example of the Jorvik Viking Centre, York 21 Fort Loudoun, Tennessee, a mid-18th century British fortification: a case study in research archaeology, reconstruction, and interpretive exhibits 22 Conservation and information in the display of prehistoric sites 23 The epic of the Ekpu: ancestor figures of Oron, south-east. Conclusion: archaeologists and others