The Social Web and Archaeology’s Restructuring: Impact, Exploitation, Disciplinary Change
From blogs to crowdfunding, YouTube to LinkedIn, online photo-sharing sites to open-source community-based software projects, the social web has been a meaningful player in the development of archaeological practice for two decades now. Yet despite its myriad applications, it is still often apprecia...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2015-05-01
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| Series: | Open Archaeology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/opar.2014.1.issue-1/opar-2015-0009/opar-2015-0009.xml?format=INT |
| _version_ | 1818693244141174784 |
|---|---|
| author | Perry Sara Beale Nicole |
| author_facet | Perry Sara Beale Nicole |
| author_sort | Perry Sara |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | From blogs to crowdfunding, YouTube to LinkedIn, online photo-sharing sites to open-source
community-based software projects, the social web has been a meaningful player in the development of
archaeological practice for two decades now. Yet despite its myriad applications, it is still often appreciated
as little more than a tool for communication, rather than a paradigm-shifting system that also shapes the
questions we ask in our research, the nature and spread of our data, and the state of skill and expertise in the
profession. We see this failure to critically engage with its dimensions as one of the most profound challenges
confronting archaeology today. The social web is bound up in relations of power, control, freedom, labour
and exploitation, with consequences that portend real instability for the cultural sector and for social welfare
overall. Only a handful of archaeologists, however, are seriously debating these matters, which suggests
the discipline is setting itself up to be swept away by our unreflective investment in the cognitive capitalist
enterprise that marks much current web-based work. Here we review the state of play of the archaeological
social web, and reflect on various conscientious activities aimed both at challenging practitioners’ current
online interactions, and at otherwise situating the discipline as a more informed innovator with the social
web’s possibilities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T13:10:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b1ddd9f03432410aaeb3a5470c088e2c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2300-6560 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T13:10:36Z |
| publishDate | 2015-05-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Archaeology |
| spelling | doaj.art-b1ddd9f03432410aaeb3a5470c088e2c2022-12-21T21:47:07ZengDe GruyterOpen Archaeology2300-65602015-05-011110.1515/opar-2015-0009opar-2015-0009The Social Web and Archaeology’s Restructuring: Impact, Exploitation, Disciplinary ChangePerry Sara0Beale Nicole1Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, YO1 7EP, UKCentre for Digital Heritage, University of York, York, YO1 5DD, UKFrom blogs to crowdfunding, YouTube to LinkedIn, online photo-sharing sites to open-source community-based software projects, the social web has been a meaningful player in the development of archaeological practice for two decades now. Yet despite its myriad applications, it is still often appreciated as little more than a tool for communication, rather than a paradigm-shifting system that also shapes the questions we ask in our research, the nature and spread of our data, and the state of skill and expertise in the profession. We see this failure to critically engage with its dimensions as one of the most profound challenges confronting archaeology today. The social web is bound up in relations of power, control, freedom, labour and exploitation, with consequences that portend real instability for the cultural sector and for social welfare overall. Only a handful of archaeologists, however, are seriously debating these matters, which suggests the discipline is setting itself up to be swept away by our unreflective investment in the cognitive capitalist enterprise that marks much current web-based work. Here we review the state of play of the archaeological social web, and reflect on various conscientious activities aimed both at challenging practitioners’ current online interactions, and at otherwise situating the discipline as a more informed innovator with the social web’s possibilities.http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/opar.2014.1.issue-1/opar-2015-0009/opar-2015-0009.xml?format=INTsocial web archaeology digital heritage social media skill labour heteromation neoliberalismcognitive capitalism |
| spellingShingle | Perry Sara Beale Nicole The Social Web and Archaeology’s Restructuring: Impact, Exploitation, Disciplinary Change Open Archaeology social web archaeology digital heritage social media skill labour heteromation neoliberalism cognitive capitalism |
| title | The Social Web and Archaeology’s Restructuring: Impact, Exploitation, Disciplinary Change |
| title_full | The Social Web and Archaeology’s Restructuring: Impact, Exploitation, Disciplinary Change |
| title_fullStr | The Social Web and Archaeology’s Restructuring: Impact, Exploitation, Disciplinary Change |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Social Web and Archaeology’s Restructuring: Impact, Exploitation, Disciplinary Change |
| title_short | The Social Web and Archaeology’s Restructuring: Impact, Exploitation, Disciplinary Change |
| title_sort | social web and archaeology s restructuring impact exploitation disciplinary change |
| topic | social web archaeology digital heritage social media skill labour heteromation neoliberalism cognitive capitalism |
| url | http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/opar.2014.1.issue-1/opar-2015-0009/opar-2015-0009.xml?format=INT |
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