{"id":3645,"date":"2024-09-01T14:00:10","date_gmt":"2024-09-01T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=3645"},"modified":"2024-09-01T14:07:20","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T13:07:20","slug":"wicked-problems-for-archaeologists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=3645","title":{"rendered":"Wicked Problems for Archaeologists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

John Schofield\u2019s new book Wicked Problems for Archaeologists. Heritage as Transformative Practice<\/a><\/em> (OUP, 2024, 300pp.) was prompted by Shadreck Chirikure\u2019s 2021 question: \u201cWhy is it that archaeology\u2014a discipline that deals with human experience over the long term\u2014is failing to achieve its potential in tackling global challenges?\u201d (259). Schofield\u2019s discussion and answer to this question reflects a view that is rather innovative, and it constitutes a watershed for archaeology.

Although, over the years, there have been quite a few book-length accounts of archaeology\u2019s aims in society and how to reach them, Schofield takes leadership now and offers a new mission and direction for the entire team of Archaeologists. The take on archaeology advocated by Schofield, whose battle cry is \u201cArchaeologists assemble!\u201d (298), is not Marxist but it nevertheless is critical, in the sense that the discipline is meant to address some of the world\u2019s most wicked problems such as climate change, environmental pollution, health and well-being, social justice, and conflict: archaeologists and heritage practitioners can help make the world a fairer, safer, and healthier place for everybody (299).

The volume presents a critical overview of where archaeology is positioned right now in relation to these wicked problems and how archaeologists could enhance their own contribution to solving them in the future. Schofield\u2019s agenda is intellectual but in equal measure it is also about policy, leadership, social-planetary boundaries, and sustainable development goals (SDGs)\u2026 In his perspective, key terms that should guide archaeologists include transdisciplinary collaboration, the imagination, small wins, and policy entrepreneurship.

This is an agenda I like a lot, and it is close to my own approach to archaeology using labels such as \u2018applied archaeology\u2019 and \u2018heritage futures\u2019. As Schofield asks his student readers (302): how can archaeologists do more to persuade doubters that archaeology is central to helping understand and resolve many of the world\u2019s greatest challenges? Is archaeology not about the past, but about the present and the future?
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John Schofield\u2019s new book Wicked Problems for Archaeologists. Heritage as Transformative Practice (OUP, 2024, 300pp.) was prompted by Shadreck Chirikure\u2019s 2021 question: \u201cWhy is it that archaeology\u2014a discipline that deals with human experience over the long term\u2014is failing to achieve its potential in tackling global challenges?\u201d (259). 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