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Agency. A response to Sørensen and Ribeiro

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2017

Torill Christine Lindstrøm
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Abstract

While agreeing to openness to other world views, the underlying premise of ‘otherness’ in ‘the other’ is questioned. It is argued that individual, intercultural and intra-cultural differences run criss-cross throughout the anthroposphere. The often convoluted language in symmetrical, Latourian and New Materialist directions in archaeology is criticized. One questions what their significant new contributions to archaeological research are. The importance of refined differentiations regarding agency and effects, and the living and the non-living, is maintained. Latour's claim of a universal dichotomization in Western thinking (both academic and common) is interrogated, and empirical proofs demanded. The concepts of ‘dichotomy’ and ‘binary thinking’ are discussed. The assumed political and ethical sequelae and implications of adherence to one or another theoretical position and research methodology are questioned. Ecological awareness can be acquired from various positions. In general, political correctness in academia is criticized.

Keywords

agency‘the other’symmetrical archaeologyNew Materialist archaeologyLatourpolitical correctness in academia
Type
Reaction
Information
Archaeological Dialogues , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , June 2017 , pp. 109 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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