This essay is centred on how archaeological theory is affected by the process of constructing national identities in emerging nation-sates. Archaeology is often used by nationalist movements to create a shared history in order to unite the nation. This is an especially significant process in emerging nation-states and as a result can often lead to more dramatic examples of nationalisms effects. It is important to understand how nationalism integrates itself into archaeological theory in order to be aware of biases that may affect the practice of archaeology.
The essay will begin by defining nation-states and nationalism and will then go on to a brief discussion of the relationship between archaeology and nationalism. After a limited discussion
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For example, in Eastern Europe, the collapse of the Soviet Union led to the rise of nationalism and the cultural-historical approach in archaeology (Trigger 2006:490). The cultural-historical approach has contributed to the idea that the world is composed of a mosaic of cultures. Each of these cultures are assumed to be static, distinct externally and homogenous internally (Jones and Graves-Brown 1996:4). Both nationalist and cultural-historical archaeologists assume that ethnicity is static (Kohl 1998:231) and that bounded cultural entities correspond to present-day races, tribes and other groups of people. Thus allowing nationalists to construct long genealogies of their nations past which reinforces their concepts of national identity and legitimizes their power (Jones and Graves-Brown 1996:4). Jones argues that the culture-historical approach works so well with nationalism because culture-history is based on nationalistic ideas of cultural diversity …show more content…
The discrimination against indigenous peoples due to their racial inferiority based on the misinterpretation of the archaeological record abound in colonial settings (Trigger 1984). However, one of the most tragic and well-known examples is that of Gustav Kossina who believed that the archaeological record suggested the strong presence of a “pure” Aryan race in Germany (Trigger 2006:236). This theory was enthusiastically adopted by the Nazi party as it contributed to the idea of the racial superiority of Germans. Unfortunately, this theory was later used to support the systematic genocide of the Jews and other minorities who were deemed racially inferior (Trigger
Throughout the years, humans have constructed many unique civilizations; all which follow a distinct social, economic, and political structure. Even so, there is one characteristic that prevails among these societies, the concept of nationalism. In short, nationalism refers to the feelings people have when identifying with their nation. This simple notion possesses the ability to divide or unite collective groups, and has played an important role in many historical events.
These leading anthropologists paved the way for Lewis Binford and his absolutely influential paper titled Archaeology as Anthropology in which Binfo...
Orientalism, which became famous as a term after Edward Said’s book written in 1978, explains a power relation between the Orient and the Occident inspiring from the Foucault’s The Archeology of Knowledge and
In order to legitimise a regime or cause, traditions may be constructed around historical or mythological events, people or symbols that reinforce the image required to focus people’s conception of the past. People can be encouraged to invent a cohesive view of their shared ‘traditions’ by what could be called cherry picking bits of history.
One of the most destructive and arrogant persons in history was Adolf Hitler. The destruction that he and his regime brought on humanity has seldom seen its equal. In reality the Holocaust was a terrible horror, but in Hitler’s mind it was merely a brushstroke in the masterpiece that he believed he was creating. Hitler believed that the Aryan race was superior to all others and that it was only natural, and not cruel, that the higher would show no humanity toward the lower (296). This prejudiced belief predominated Hitler’s thinking. In his essay, On Nation and Race, his assumption that Aryans are superior to all others creates a type of logical fallacy called “Begging the Question” (Rottenberg 291).
Nationalism has a long history although most scholarly research on Nationalism only began in the mid-twentieth century. Some scholars point to the French Revolution of 1789 as the birth of Nationalism. The French Revolution is seen...
A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust Denial in the Americas, 1492 to the Present. San Francisco: City Light Books, 1997. Fredrickson, George. A. Racism: A Short History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
Nationalism has played a crucial role in world history over the past centuries. It continues to do so today. For many, nationalism is indelibly associated with some of the worst aspects of modern history, such as the destructive confidence of the Napoleon’s army and the murderous pride of Nazi Germany. Large numbers of people, descent in their hearts, have carried out unbelievable atrocities for no better reason than their nation required them to. Authoritarian and totalitarian regime have crushed dissent, eliminated opposition, and trampled on civil liberties in the name of the nation.
Hitler begins this chapter by citing various illustrations of the situation in North America, Central and South America to prove how historically when the "Aryan blood has become mixed with that of inferior peoples
In Marshall G. S. Hodgson’s article, The Interrelations of Societies in History, the idea of our egocentrism influencing our perception and education of history is more deeply explored and analyzed. The piece outlines how history primarily focuses on Western Civilization, although in reality the studies are usually only on European states. It argues that large scale history should be studied not as individual areas that are separate in nature, but through the interrelations throughout these societies in world history. In other words, that the achievements, declines, successes, and failures of all world societies through history have been connected to one another in some way, and it is impossible to understand a time period without understanding first the connections of societies. Hodgson makes this argument through two main points, first there is critiques of the current models of studying world history for their lack of interrelational studies. Second, he presents his own method of tracing large scale history by comparing societies involved in history. The Interrelations of Societies in History presents a theory on the faults with
The patterns of living that the world witnesses today are greatly influenced by history. This is because of the fact that history plays an immense role in forming one’s future; the abundant interactions socially, economically, politically, result in repercussions that can hardly be unraveled. However, this does not in anyway mean that one cannot trace today’s state of affairs back to its roots. Tracing today’s occurrences back to their origin is possible due to the fact that the agents’ (nations) origins are known.
Hobsbawn and Ranger also mention how invented traditions ‘use history as a legitimator of action and cement of group cohesion’ (Hobsbawm and Ranger, 1983 in Laurence, 2008, pp.179). Irish nationalists were fastidious over the heritage of a building they refurbished. They focused on protecting buildings built by Irish builders and left English built buildings to decay. ‘the history of a nation, state or movement is not what has actually been preserved in popular memory, but what has been selected, written,
The rise of nationalism and its mark on the history of Europe was quite profound. The unification of major powers and the civil unrest on the journey to unification created a large chapter of history in the nineteenth century. By the 1900s the mark of nationalism had been left on Italy, Germany, France and Great Britain. The major European powers had come through great trials to set the stage for the twentieth century and the conflicts that will erupt. Nationalism will be remembered as a great period of change and growth.
This creates debates about which factors scholars should focus on for any given form of nationalism. Should scholars take a primordialist approach and focus on kinship ties, myths of ancestry, and instinctual loyalty? Or, should scholars take a situationalist approach focus upon changing economic and political factors which influence the rational decisions of individuals? Or, should scholars study nationalism as an ideology and explain the role of the state as an ideological enforcer and the role nationalism plays in securing the insecure masses? In certain cases people may think it is adequate to take all of the separate theories into considerations, mixing primordialist ideas of instinctual loyalty and myths of homeland with constructivist ideas of constructed national identity. Others argue that it is necessary to not combine the three separate approaches but to study each one to attempt to figure out which one can provide the deeper understanding. This means that when analyzing nationalism, the frameworks for nationalism are always being compared and contrasted to figure out which one can offer a better and deeper understanding; alluding to nationalist theories having different utilities in separate situations. However, when discussions of nationalism mix primordialist ideas of instinctual loyalty, situationalist ideas of rational interest and constructivist ideas
According to The Society for American Archaeology, the definition of Archaeology is, “to obtain a chronology of the past, a sequence of events and dates that, in a sense, is a backward extension of history.” The study of ancient civilizations and archaeology is rather ambiguous due to the primitive nature of the time period. With little imagery and even less textual evidence, professionals in the field must work diligently when studying their subjects. Naturally, archaeologists cannot see or communicate with those whom they are studying, so they must be extraordinarily meticulous when analyzing past cultures. This relates to all aspects of the ancient world including; foods, raw materials, artifacts, agriculture, art work and pottery. All of these elements can collectively provide new and innovative information to curious archaeologists who may wish to gain a better understanding of those who came before us. This information is equally beneficial for both historians and archaeologists who plan to compare the histories of societies from all around the world. In the world of archaeology, archaeologists strive to better explain human behavior by analyzing our past. Therefore, the study of archaeology is a key element in understanding a time before our own.