The political economy of a commercial archaeology : a Quebec case-study
Capitalist logic, its impact on the practice of archaeology, and on the professional lives of those who participate within its political economy are the subject for this analysis. I have chosen as my unit of analysis commercial archaeology in Quebec, Canada. This context was chosen because of its progressive transformation from a semi, state-regulated archaeological system to one that is competitive and comparable to those found in the UK and the USA. Commercial archaeology, as governed by a neoliberal economic system, has fundamentally altered how archaeologyâs contributions are brought about, maintained and disseminated. But what about those who produce archaeology, has their relationship to the profession changed as a result of neoliberal economics? The objective of this thesis is to address and evaluate the argument against neoliberal economics and contribute to current critiques regarding capitalist economics by posing the following question: does the implementation of a neoliberal economy in archaeology sustain the accomplishment of a meaningful and valuable archaeological activity for archaeologists and the public? Within this dissertation, an ethnographic approach to data collection permits the exploration
Zorzin, Nicholas
CC Archaeology ; HF Commerce
The political economy of a commercial archaeology : a Quebec case-study. Capitalist logic, its impact on the practice of archaeology, and on the professional lives of those who participate within its political economy are the subject for this analysis. I have chosen as my unit of analysis commercial archaeology in Quebec, Canada. This context was chosen because of its progressive transformation from a semi, state-regulated archaeological system to one that is competitive and comparable to those found in the UK and the USA. Commercial archaeology, as governed by a neoliberal economic system, has fundamentally altered how archaeologyâs contributions are brought about, maintained and disseminated. But what about those who produce archaeology, has their relationship to the profession changed as a result of neoliberal economics? The objective of this thesis is to address and evaluate the argument against neoliberal economics and contribute to current critiques regarding capitalist economics by posing the following question: does the implementation of a neoliberal economy in archaeology sustain the accomplishment of a meaningful and valuable archaeological activity for archaeologists and the public? Within this dissertation, an ethnographic approach to data collection permits the exploration
political_economy commercial archaeology case_study capitalist logic impact practice archaeology professional life participate within political_economy subject analysis choose unit analysis commercial archaeology canada context choose progressive transformation semi state regulated archaeological system competitive comparable find usa commercial archaeology govern neoliberal economic system fundamentally alter archaeology contribution bring maintain disseminate produce archaeology relationship profession change neoliberal economics objective address evaluate argument neoliberal economics contribute_current critique regard capitalist economics pose follow_question implementation neoliberal economy archaeology sustain accomplishment meaningful valuable archaeological activity archaeologists public within ethnographic_data collection permit exploration