Hi folks,

I am organizing a session for the 2002 SHA's with the
tentative title, "Theory and Future Directions for
Industrial Archaeology."

This session is largely in response to the many
insightful comments about IA posted on histarch last
week.  It is also in reaction to my own struggles in
both CRM and academia to grasp the relevance of IA to
understanding the complex economic, technological, and
social forces that have shaped the world in the past
200-300 years.

As several histarch contributors have recently agreed,
IA is well positioned to inform on these issues. I
suggest we should work toward a more coherent
theoretical framework to help guide our research
questions.

Several topics I have in mind for the session include:

-What is the history of theory (if any) in IA?  What
theories are potentially applicable in the future?

-Is industrial archaeology the handmaiden to history
of technology?

-How does IA theory differ from theory used in
historical archaeology?

-What is the relationship (if any) between IA and
anthropological theory?

-How do we appropriately link theory and method in
industrial archaeology?

-Are industrial sites fundamentally different from
other kinds of historic sites?  Do industrial
landscapes reflect domestic or religious uses?

-What kinds of information do rural and plantation
industries yield that differ from large-scale
industries and vice versa?

-Why is IA relevant to other fields such as history,
history of technology, sociology, economics, cultural
ecology, cultural anthropology, etc.?

-How can IA contribute to studies of globalism,
colonialism, consumerism, capitalism, gender,
ethnicity, and power?  How do postmodernism, Marxism,
and Taylorism fit in?

 -How do we (can we) identify struggles for control
over the workplace in the archaeological record?  Do
technological artifacts and architecture illuminate
this phenomenon?

-What does IA offer to our understanding of modern
industrial/social phenomena (e.g., impact of
multinational corporate activities on third world
populations, lifestyles, ethnic and gender relations,
etc.)?

-How can we make our work useful and known to other
disciplines?

I expect some of these questions to be controversial,
because several of the ideas are derived from past
histarch debates (and elsewhere).  In other words,
direct your flaming energies into a paper for the
session and not at me!  Also, I couldn’t possibly
cover all the potential topics, so please add to the
list, either by posting here or by emailing me
off-list.

The session should (hopefully) reflect a variety of
approaches, ranging from generalized theoretical
discussions to site specific examples that illustrate
broad theoretical applications.  The archaeology of
workplaces, company towns and plantation industries
will be included in the session.  I am aware that the
inclusion of company housing excavations under the
heading of industrial archaeology has been a
contentious issue in the past, and I welcome papers
arguing both sides of the debate.

Pat Martin and Don Hardesty have agreed to serve as
discussants. It’s already shaping up to be a
thought-provoking event, so please send me your ideas
and your commitment to do a paper for the session.

Many thanks,

Sarah Cowie
Department of Anthropology
University of Arizona


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