Ethnic cleansing Brexit style |
Sent: Sat, 9 Jul 2016 19:51
Subject: Citizens and their archaeology
Dear Ms Bolton, Ms Elvin, I would be grateful if you could pass this query to the person responsible for the text of the British Museum Annual Review Launch 2016 press release [http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/annual-review-press-release.pdf] which mentioned “citizen archaeology” and draw their attention to the two blog posts:
http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2016/07/citizen-archaeology.html and https://heritageaction.wordpress.com/2016/07/09/now-the-british-museum-insults-every-archaeologist-and-heritage-professional/
To avoid confusion, I am sure I am not the only person who would be grateful for an official statement by the British Museum:
1) defining what the BM means by the noun "archaeology" in the phrase "citizen archaeology". What is the precise definition of the term "archaeology" as far as the British Museum is concerned?
2) As for the adjective "citizen", is it not nationalist and discriminatory to divide the archaeological research done in pre-Brexit Britain in terms of whether its authors are British citizens or not? In what way is that important? Should not the British Museum (one of those self-proclaimed Universal Museums) be fighting ethnocentric divisiveness in British society rather than encouraging it? Should the research of British workers (for example Museum staff) in foreign countries such as in the Middle East be treated any differently on grounds of citizenship?
Citizens and non-citizens
I am sure I am not the only one puzzled by the terminology chosen for use in a document issued for public release (and public information) by a public institution, I trust you see the importance in clarifying any confusion the use of this phrase has caused. What do you consider archaeology to be in 2016?
Paul BarfordWill we get a sensible answer from Brexiting Bloomsbury? Was the text written or approved by Sir Richard Lambert, Chair of the British Museum Trustees, or Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum quoted in the document?
No comments:
Post a Comment