Participatory Archaeology and Heritage Studies

Participatory Archaeology and Heritage Studies PDF

Author: Peter R. Schmidt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-12-13

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1351020889

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Participatory Archaeology and Heritage Studies: Perspectives from Africa provides new ways to look at and think about the practice of community archaeology and heritage studies across the globe. Long hidden from view, African experiences and experiments with participatory archaeology and heritage studies have poignant lessons to convey about local initiatives, local needs, and local perspectives among communities as diverse as an Islamic community on the edge of an ancient city in Sudan to multi-ethnic rural villages near rock art sites in South Africa. Straddling both heritage studies and archaeological practice, this volume incorporates a range of settings, from practical experiments with sustainable pottery kilns in Kenya, to an elite palace and its hidden traditional heritage in Northwestern Tanzania, to ancestral knowledge about heritage landscapes in rural Ethiopia. The genesis of participatory practices in Africa are traced back to the 1950s, with examples of how this legacy has played out over six decades—setting the scene for a deeply rooted practice now gaining widespread acceptance. The chapters in this book were originally published in the Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage.

Creating Participatory Dialogue in Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Interpretation: Multinational Perspectives

Creating Participatory Dialogue in Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Interpretation: Multinational Perspectives PDF

Author: John H. Jameson

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-02-28

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 3030819574

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This volume examines evolving trends and transnational perspectives on public interpretation of archaeological and cultural heritage, as well as levels of communication, from local to regional, national and international. It is presented in the context of the evolution of cultural heritage studies from the 20th century “expert approach” to the 21st century “people-centered approach,” with public participation and community involvement at all phases of the decision-making process. Our premise is not just about bringing in community members to be partners in decision making processes; some projects are being initiated by the community--not the heritage experts. In some instances, community members are central in initiating and bringing about change rather than the archaeologists or heritage specialists. In several cases in the book, descendants take the lead in changing heritage narratives. The book addresses several central questions: Do these actions represent new emphases, or more fundamental pedagogical shifts, in interpretation? Are they resulting in more effective interpretation in facilitating emotional and intellectual connections and meanings for audiences? Are they revealing silenced histories? Can they contribute to, or help mediate, dialogues among a diversity of cultures? Can they be shared experiences as examples of good practice at national and international levels? What are the interpretation and presentation challenges for the future? Cultural heritage, as an expression of a diversity of cultures, can be an important mediator between pasts and futures. In the past, people in power from the dominant ethnic, racial, socio-economic, gender, and religious groups determined the heritage message. Minorities were often silenced; their participation in the building and growth of a city, county, or nation’s history was overlooked. New philosophical/methodological trends in public interpretation are reshaping the messages delivered at archaeological/cultural heritage sites worldwide. The role of the experts, as well as the participatory engagement of audiences and stakeholders are being redefined and reassessed. This book explores these processes, their results and effects on the future.

Community-based Heritage in Africa

Community-based Heritage in Africa PDF

Author: Peter R. Schmidt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-03-03

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1351980912

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This volume provides a powerful alternative to the Western paradigms that have governed archaeological inquiry and heritage studies in Africa. Community-based Heritage Research in Africa boldly shifts focus away from top-down community engagements, usually instigated by elite academic and heritage institutions, to examine locally initiated projects. Schmidt explores how and why local research initiatives, which are often motivated by rapid culture change caused by globalization, arose among the Haya people of western Tanzania. In particular, the trauma of HIV/AIDS resulted in the loss of elders who had performed oral traditions and rituals at sacred places, the two most recognized forms of heritage among the Haya as well as distinct alternatives to the authorized heritage discourse favored around the globe. Examining three local initiatives, Schmidt draws on his experience as an anthropologist invited to collaborate and co-produce with the Haya to provide a poignant rendering of the successes, conflicts, and failures that punctuated their participatory community research efforts. This frank appraisal privileges local voices and focuses attention on the unique and important contributions that such projects can make to the preservation of regional history. Through this blend of personalized narrative and analytical examination, the book provides fresh insights into African archaeology and heritage studies.

Transforming Heritage Practice in the 21st Century

Transforming Heritage Practice in the 21st Century PDF

Author: John H. Jameson

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-06-14

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 3030143279

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Recent years have witnessed a rapid increase in the fields of cultural heritage studies and community archaeology worldwide with expanding discussions about the mechanisms and consequences of community participation. This trend has brought to the forefront debates about who owns the past, who has knowledge, and how heritage values can be shared more effectively with communities who then ascribe meaning and value to heritage materials. Globalization forces have created a need for contextualizing knowledge to address complex issues and collaboration across and beyond academic disciplines, using more integrated methodologies that include the participation of non-academics and increased stakeholder involvement. Successful programs provide power sharing mechanisms and motivation that effect more active involvement by lay persons in archaeological fieldwork as well as interpretation and information dissemination processes. With the contents of this volume, we envision community archaeology to go beyond descriptions of outreach and public engagement to more critical and reflexive actions and thinking. The volume is presented in the context of the evolution of cultural heritage studies from the 20th century “expert approach” to the 21st century “people-centered approach,” with public participation and community involvement at all phases of the decision-making process. The volume contains contributions of 28 chapters and 59 authors, covering an extensive geographical range, including Africa, South America, Central America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, and Australasia. Chapters provide exemplary cases in a growing lexicon of public archaeology where power is shared within frameworks of voluntary activism in a wide diversity of cooperative settings and stakeholder interactions.

Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa

Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa PDF

Author: Peter R. Schmidt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-06-17

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1317220749

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This volume provides new insights into the distinctive contributions that community archaeology and heritage make to the decolonization of archaeological practice. Using innovative approaches, the contributors explore important initiatives which have protected and revitalized local heritage, initiatives that involved archaeologists as co-producers rather than leaders. These case studies underline the need completely reshape archaeological practice, engaging local and indigenous communities in regular dialogue and recognizing their distinctive needs, in order to break away from the top-down power relationships that have previously characterized archaeology in Africa. Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa reflects a determined effort to change how archaeology is taught to future generations. Through community-based participatory approaches, archaeologists and heritage professionals can benefit from shared resources and local knowledge; and by sharing decision-making with members of local communities, archaeological inquiry can enhance their way of life, ameliorate their human rights concerns, and meet their daily needs to build better futures. Exchanging traditional power structures for research design and implementation, the examples outlined in this volume demonstrate the discipline’s exciting capacity to move forward to achieve its potential as a broader, more accessible, and more inclusive field.

Participatory Heritage

Participatory Heritage PDF

Author: Henriette Roued-Cunliffe

Publisher: Facet Publishing

Published: 2017-01-18

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1783301236

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The internet as a platform for facilitating human organization without the need for organizations has, through social media, created new challenges for cultural heritage institutions. Challenges include but are not limited to: how to manage copyright, ownership, orphan works, open data access to heritage representations and artefacts, crowdsourcing, cultural heritage amateurs, information as a commodity or information as public domain, sustainable preservation, attitudes towards openness and much more. Participatory Heritage uses a selection of international case studies to explore these issues and demonstrates that in order for personal and community-based documentation and artefacts to be preserved and included in social and collective histories, individuals and community groups need the technical and knowledge infrastructures of support that formal cultural institutions can provide. In other words, both groups need each other. Divided into three core sections, this book explores: - Participants in the preservation of cultural heritage; exploring heritage institutions and organizations, community archives and group - Challenges; including discussion of giving voices to communities, social inequality, digital archives, data and online sharing - Solutions; discussing open access and APIs, digital postcards, the case for collaboration, digital storytelling and co-designing heritage practice. Readership: This book will be useful reading for individuals working in cultural institutions such as libraries, museums, archives and historical societies. It will also be of interest to students taking library, archive and cultural heritage courses.

Public Participation in Archaeology

Public Participation in Archaeology PDF

Author: Suzie Thomas

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1843838974

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This volume examines the various facets of public archaeology practice globally, and the factors which are currently affecting it, together with the question of how different publics and communities engage with their archaeological heritage.

Heritage, Conservation and Communities

Heritage, Conservation and Communities PDF

Author: Gill Chitty

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2016-12-01

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1317122356

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Public participation and local community involvement have taken centre stage in heritage practice in recent decades. In contrast with this established position in wider heritage work, public engagement with conservation practice is less well developed. The focus here is on conservation as the practical care of material cultural heritage, with all its associated significance for local people. How can we be more successful in building capacity for local ownership and leadership of heritage conservation projects, as well as improving participative involvement in decisions and in practice? This book presents current research and practice in community-led conservation. It illustrates that outcomes of locally-led, active participation show demonstrable social, educational and personal benefits for participants. Bringing together UK and international case studies, the book combines analysis of theoretical and applied approaches, exploring the lived experiences of conservation projects in and with different communities. Responding to the need for deeper understanding of the outcomes of heritage conservation, it examines the engagement of local people and communities beyond the expert and specialist domain. Highlighting the advances in this important aspect of contemporary heritage practice, this book is a key resource for practitioners in heritage studies, conservation and heritage management. It is also relevant for the practising professional, student or university researcher in an emerging field that overarches professional and academic practice.

Intangible Heritage and Participation

Intangible Heritage and Participation PDF

Author: Marilena Alivizatou

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-07-12

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 0429761082

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Intangible Heritage and Participation examines participation as an intellectual and operational frame in safeguarding intangible heritage. Including case studies from the Netherlands, Belgium, Aotearoa New Zealand, Greece, Peru, Britain, Denmark, Sweden and Japan, the book provides an analysis of safeguarding as a museological framework and further investigates safeguarding practices in participatory research, memory-work and cultural transmission. Drawing on conversations about ‘the tyranny of participation’, the book looks into the complexities of participatory projects on the ground, from community research and collecting to the mapping of Indigenous values in environmental conservation and processes of active remembering of ‘difficult intangible heritage’ of forced migration, political violence and mental illness. Cautioning against the uncritical adoption of participation as a universal ethical discourse, Alivizatou argues that the ethics of cosmopolitanism should guide safeguarding practices at an international level. Intangible Heritage and Participation offers an original approach to thinking about and working with intangible heritage and, as such, should be essential reading for academics, researchers and students in, among others, the fields of cultural heritage studies, museology, anthropology and cultural development. It should also be of interest to heritage and museum professionals and anyone else interested in cultural heritage theory and practice.

Calling on the Community

Calling on the Community PDF

Author: Jeroen Rodenberg

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2023-01-13

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1800738390

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There is a call in Heritage Studies to democratize heritage practices and place local communities at the forefront; heritage plays an important role in identity formation, and therefore in social inclusion and exclusion. Public participation is often presented as the primary means to prioritize communities. However, studies focusing on public participation are typically descriptive in nature and lack a strong analytical framework that enables us to understand participation. The essays in this volume apply Public Administration theory to collaborative governance and thus contribute to a better understanding of public participation in the heritage sector.