Earth flows and lively stone. What differences does ‘vibrant’ matter make?

This essay differentiates between various branches of post-human scholarship as they relate to issues of colonial inequality, social action and politics. Through their critique of human exceptionalism, through their recognition of the vibrancy of matter, and in their potential connections with polit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archaeological dialogues 2018-06, Vol.25 (1), p.49-70
Main Author: Cipolla, Craig N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archaeology
Colonialism
Frost, Robert (1874-1963)
Humanism
Materiality
Modernism
Ontology
Postcolonialism
Theory
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Summary:This essay differentiates between various branches of post-human scholarship as they relate to issues of colonial inequality, social action and politics. Through their critique of human exceptionalism, through their recognition of the vibrancy of matter, and in their potential connections with politically engaged scholarship, certain lines of post-humanist thought stand to make important contributions to archaeologies of long-term and colonial Indigenous history. I argue that these qualities offer nuanced perspectives on the plural colonial past and present of New England (north-eastern North America). I explore the prospects for a selectively post-human and pragmatic archaeology in connection with recent debates over stone landscapes. This approach makes room for various stakeholder narratives, finding possible common ground in a shared human condition between stakeholders, i.e. subject to ‘earth flows and lively stone’.
ISSN:1380-2038
1478-2294
DOI:10.1017/S1380203818000077