Archaeology as a Tool of Civic Engagement

Archaeology as a Tool of Civic Engagement is an indispensable resource for archaeologists and the communities in which they work. The authors are intensely committed to developing effective models for participating in the civic renewal movement - through active engagement in community life, in development offor interpretive and educational programming, and for in participation in debates and decisions about preservation and community planning. Using case studies from different regions within the United States, Guatemala, Vietnam, Canada, and Eastern Europe, Little and Shackel challenge archaeologists to create an ethical public archaeology that is concerned not just with the management of cultural resources, but with social justice and civic responsibility. Their new book will be a valuable guide for archaeologists, community planners, historians, and museum professionals.

Table of Contents:
0 Introduction: Archaeology and Civic Engagement Chapter 1 History, Justice, and Reconciliation Chapter 2 Civic Engagement at Werowocomoco: Reasserting Native Narratives from a Powhatan Place of Power Chapter 3 Beyond Strategy and Good Intentions: Archaeology, Race and White Privilege Chapter 4 Politics, Inequality, and Engaged Archaeology: Community Archaeology along the Color Line Chapter 5 Remaking Connections: Archaeology and Community after the Loma Prieta Earthquake Chapter 6 Voices from the Past: Changing the Culture of Historic House Museums with Archaeology Chapter 7 Archaeology- the "Missing Link" to Civic Engagement? An Introspective Look at the Tools of Reinvention and Reengagement in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Chapter 8 Civil Religion and Civically Engaged Archaeology: Researching Benjamin Franklin and the Pragmatic Spirit Chapter 9 Reconnecting the Present with its Past: The Doukhobor Pit House Public Archaeology Project Chapter 10 Heritage in Hampden: A Participatory Research Design for Public Archaeology in a Working-Class Neighborhood, Baltimore, Maryland Chapter 11 Civic Engagement and Social Justice: Race on hte Illinois Frontier Chapter 12 Learning through Visitors: Exhibits as a Tool for Encouraging Civic Engagement through Archaeology

About the Author :
Barbara J. Little is an archaeologist with the National Park Service. She has edited four volumes, including Public Benefits of Archaeology (2002), and she is the co-author (with Donald L. Hardesty) of Assessing Site Significance: A Guide for Archaeologists and Historians (2000). Paul A. Shackel is professor of Anthropology at the University of Maryland and is director of the Center for Heritage Resource Studies. He has edited six volumes and written four books and edited six volumes, including Memory in Black and White: Race, Commemoration, and the Post-Bellum Landscape (2003).

Review :
There is a new kind of public archaeology emerging; one that takes seriously archaeology's potential to understand the past to give a sense of meaning for our future. This work has the familiar goals of inventorying significant sites and doing better archaeology. It also aims to build better communities. Archaeology as a Tool of Civic Engagement provides us with lessons, sometimes painful and sometimes exhilarating, from some of our most accomplished colleagues, whose research has explored the ways in which we tell the truth about the past and thereby is a source of hope for the future. If archaeology is to become relevant to society at large, the papers in Archaeology as a Tool of Civic Engagement can show us the way....The contributors to Archaeology as a Tool of Civic Engagement clearly demonstrate that in living up to our social obligations archaeology can be a powerful tool in redressing long-standing problems of social justice. Archaeology as a Tool of Civic Engagement provides a useful and interesting set of case studies. Furthermore, its central thesis that the inclusion of descendant and other affected communities into the practice of archaeology can be empowering and potentially lead to a greater interest in heritage is a worthy topic for discussion. The archaeologists in this volume have stepped up to the plate to present a rich selection of essays on how archaeology can be used to promote social justice. As the authors note, public engagement with the past makes archaeology more socially relevant and democratizes knowledge. Little and Shackel are to be commended for their vision of archaeology's future.