`...encompasses all the recent work on the archaeology of ourselves...transform[ing] archaeology into a discipline that can both contribute to a wide range of contemporary social issues and provide new insights for anthropology, sociology, heritage and cultural geography.' Ian Hodder, Stanford Archaeology Center
`...an eloquent argument that the transformation of things and landscapes haunts the contemporary imagination.' Clive Gamble, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London
`...shows versatility to the full, using archaeological theory and technique to reflect on the materiality of our contemporary world.' Martin Hall, University of Salford
Can the approaches of a discipline which has been developed to explore the distant past be used to understand the present? How can the excavation of the recent past bring to light new insights into what it means to be us? Drawing on case studies both exotic and quotidian, from IKEA to the Cold War, from the archaeology of an abandoned theme park to Nevada's bright lights and desert, and from the back streets of Malta to the departure lounge at London's Heathrow Airport, Rodney Harrison and John Schfield explore what happens if we take an archaeological approach to developed, post-industrial societies from the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first. Their book is an invaluable introduction to the ways in which archaeologists approach the study of the recent and contemporary past, drawing together the insights of a range of perspectives. In doing so, it presents a new agenda for the study of the materiality of late modern societies.
Industry Reviews
By bringing archaeology right up to date Harrison and Schofield provide an eloquent argument that the transformation of things and landscapes haunts the contemporary imagination. Their book is a must-read for the many disciplines interested in understanding the turbulent century we have recently shed. The presumption that history died in 1989 is here matched by the birth of a new understanding of the past; one that is altogether more interesting because it is tangible and entrancing. * Clive Gamble, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London *
Archaeology has always been a versatile discipline, and After Modernity shows versatility to the full, using archaeological theory and technique to reflect on the materiality of our contemporary world. This is the first major study to assemble along the vectors of common themes those archaeologies that explore the world of our own lifetimes. In doing this, After Modernity prompts reflection on the power of the material world today. * Martin Hall, University of Salford *
This is the first textbook that encompasses all the recent work on the archaeology of ourselves. In doing so it transforms archaeology into a discipline that can both contribute to a wide range of contemporary social issues and provide new insights for anthropology, sociology, heritage and cultural geography. * Ian Hodder, Stanford Archaeology Cente *
This is one of those rare books poised from the outset to become a classic. In many ways it is what archaeology is at its best: a creative and scholarly exploration of everyday life. Yet After Modernity also offers fascinating explorations of the possibilities of the past in the present, and the contributions archaeologies can make to a range of contemporary social issues. ... In sum, Harrison and Schofield's book is a provocative contribution to our understanding of the archaeological discipline and the heritage world around us. After Modernity earns its place in any humanities or social science library. * Timothy Clack, University of Oxford, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *
