Industrial Archaeology Future Directions

David Cranstone revists earlier debates in the field concerning whether industrial archaeology is best considered a thematic or period discipline and comes down firmly in support of the latter, arguing, in fact, that industrial archaeology should not exist at all. This provocative essay, a standout of the volume, situates industrial archaeology within a broad range of academic contexts, and throws some needed criticism on the tendency for archaeological studies...to jump to the broadest topics (capitalism, colonialism, etc) using highly selective case studies to make assertions that lack analytical rigor....Mary Beaudry's closing commentary, however, ends the volume on a clear note. Beaudry remains wary of calls to unify research into the past under one banner, nothing that the project at hand allows considerable room for different narratives pitched at different analytical scales. She argues further, in agreement with a contributor in this volume, that a key to sustaining the viability of archaeology lies in continuing advocacy not only for the preservation of monuments and landscapes but also of people's lifeways.

Paul White

IA: Journal of the Society for Industrial Archaeology

vol. 36, no.1