Overview

This book questions the value of the concept of 'agency', a term used in sociological and philosophical literature to refer to individual free will in archaeology. On the one hand it has been argued that previous generations of archaeologists, in explaining social change in terms of structural or environmental conditions, have lost sight of the 'real people' and reduced them to passive cultural pawns, on the other, introducing the concept of agency to counteract this can be said to perpetuate a modern, Western view of the autonomous individual who is free from social constraints. This book discusses the balance between these two opposites, using a range of archaeological and historical case studies, including European and Asian prehistory, classical Greece and Rome, the Inka and other Andean cultures. While focusing on the relevance of 'agency' theory to archaeological interpretation and using it to create more diverse and open-ended accounts of ancient cultures, the authors also address the contemporary political and ethical implications of what is essentially a debate about the definition of human nature.

Full Product Details

Author:   Andrew Gardner
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.453kg
ISBN:  

9781138404335

ISBN 10:   1138404330
Pages:   268
Publication Date:   27 July 2017
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: Social Agency, Power, and Being Human, Andrew Gardner; Part 1 Social Agency; Chapter 2 An Evolutionary Perspective on Agency in Archaeology, Stephen Shennan; Chapter 3 Agency and Community in 4th Century Britain: Developing the Structurationist Project, Andrew Gardner; Chapter 4 'Agency' Theory Applied: A Study of Later Prehistoric Lithic Assemblages from Northwest Pakistan, Justin Morris; Chapter 5 Agency, Technology, and the 'Muddle in the Middle': The Case of the Middle Palaeolithic, Brad Gravina; Part 2 Agency and Power; Chapter 6 Dirt, Cleanliness, and Social Structure in Ancient Greece, Astrid Lindenlauf; Chapter 7 Examining the Role of Agency in Hunter-Gatherer Cultural Transmission, Peter Jordan; Chapter 8 Identifying and Defining Agency in A Political Context, Fiona J.L Handley, Tim Schadla-Hall; Part 3 Being Human; Chapter 9 Acts of God and Active Material Culture: Agency and Commitment in the Andes, Bill Sillar; Chapter 10 Being in A Simulacrum: Electronic Agency, Mark W. Lake; Chapter 11 Agency and Views Beyond Meta-Narratives that Privatise Ethics and Globalise Indifference, Stephanie Koerner; Part 4 Commentary; Chapter 12 Agency, Structure and Archaeological Practice, Matthew Johnson;

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