« Memories and History:
Using Material Culture and Archaeological Sources
as
Alternative History”
Organised by CODESRIA, SEPHIS and the Institute of African
Studies (University Mohammed V-Souissi)
Rabat -
Morocco, 20-26 June 2005
The second interdisciplinary training workshop on alternative
historical sources will be organized by CODESRIA in cooperation
with SEPHIS and the Institute of African Studies (University
Mohammed V-Souissi) in late June 2005 in Rabat (Morocco).
The workshop, focused on material culture and archaeological
sources, will be structured around the comparative
experiences of Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean.
Over the past few decades, archaeological and material sources
have emerged as powerful tools for writing alternatives
histories, especially the life experiences of groups in the
South whose histories have been ignored or marginalised in
written sources. Archaeological and material sources offer
unique insights into the large-scale circulation of goods and
illuminate how artefacts were processed, distributed, consumed
and discarded in different locations.
They supplement language-based historical sources on trade,
crafts and subsistence, development, taste and consumer choice,
and may highlight worldviews, belief systems, attitudes and
lifestyles that are hidden or silenced in conventional
historical sources. They enable us to write more inclusive
histories. Southern scholars cannot afford to ignore the
perspectives offered by these alternative sources.
The main goal of this South/South workshop is to contribute to
the training of researchers dealing with alternative historical
sources with a view to promoting an exchange of experiences,
theories and methodologies. The workshop will bring together
some fifteen researchers from Latin America, Africa, Southern
Asia and the Caribbean and their reflexions will be spent over a
week.The
ultimate aim of the workshop is to challenge the unquestioned
hegemony of the written word at the same time as complementing
what it can offer by collecting and building knowledge based on
visual and material evidence to demonstrate their relevance in
the study of groups marginalized in textual sources. Subjects to
be covered in this programme will include material non-literary
evidence and the methodology, theory and analysis needed to
illuminate the History of Southern countries.
The workshop will bring together junior and senior
archaeologists, ethno-archaeologists, historians,
anthropologists,
museum professionals,
curators, sociologist
and others,
actively engaged in the research.
CODESRIA will endeavour to provide a stimulating intellectual
environment and arrange for the travel and living expenses of
the participants.
Themes and Contents of the workshop
The workshop programme will be designed in a manner that will
encourage reflection and generate debate among academics from
Latin America, Africa, South Asia and the Caribbean on the
theoretical and methodological issues confronting our
understanding of the past of Southern countries by using
archaeological/material culture as sources for alternative
history. This will enable identification and sharing of
knowledge between participants through their own activities and
will also enable them to renew both their technical skills and
become acquainted with new conceptual debates regarding
alternative history. This will not only
include new empirical data and new interpretations of the past
but will also encourage a
debate about the use of alternative sources in history and the
ethics of these practices.
The workshop will also examine the ideological and theoretical
considerations (world system theory, globalization and the
commodification of culture, post-colonial and neo-colonial
theories, ethnographic and ethno-archaeological analogy, the
emergence of social inequalities and complexity, Marxist and
gender ideology, etc.) behind visual displays and the social and
political implications of material culture and archaeology in
the 21st century. Participants in the workshop will examine the
potentials and limits of archaeology and material culture as
alternative sources to explore the histories of the South. This
will involve a reflection on commodity chains, cultural
interactions, tastes, consumer choice and consumption patterns
in relation to the expansion of the world economy. Presentation
will be made on the production, distribution and production of
commodities with a view to highlighting how international
networks of goods are locally articulated and individually
experienced. This way, the workshop will delve into the
cross-cultural study of the impact of globalization, with an
emphasis on economic consumption and the movement of
goods/commodities across cultural and national boundaries. An
alternative theoretical framework for the archaeology of
“Commodity Chains” in the historical period based upon a
contextual approach to material culture/artifacts and
emphasizing the global context of cultural interaction will be
explored.
The workshop will also include an open forum, thus enabling
participants to discuss current issues concerning excavation,
recovery, research, analysis and interpretation of
archaeological materials.
The workshop programme combines lectures/seminar courses and
practical training in roughly equal proportions. Sessions will
focus on participants’ discussion and debate, with the Director
helping to initiate, facilitate, and moderate discussions. Two
resource persons will animate lectures focused on case studies
using archaeological/material sources. The laureates will be
encouraged to discuss their own papers and attend the
theoretical and methodological courses given by the Director and
the two resource persons. Laureates will be required to present
and submit a paper, which should examine in detail, the current
theoretical issues or debates about alternative historical
sources.
It will be expected that the research outcomes will be
presented in the form of an article and the publication
perspectives will be defined.
