Saitta Paper
Ximena Gallego
ANTH 350- Historical Archaeology
Professor J. Moore- SP ‘13
Saitta Paper
The Archeology of Collective Action
When Dean Saitta wrote The Archeology of Collective Action: The American Experience in Archaeological Perspective, he aimed to address major issues that dealt with the study of archaeology. He focuses on how much archaeology has advanced and has clarified the concerns involving race, gender and class, which are all manifested into collective action. It is these actions that molded what we know today as the American experience. Saitta attests that that the discipline of archaeology not only tells us about our past, but it also tells us about what is going on in the our world today. Saitta looks at archeology and its success in the process of collective social actions that deal with the past. Some of these events include labor strikes, protests and rebellions on slave plantations. These events have impacted today’s society and Saitta analyzes the process of this.
One of the main events was the Colorado Coal Strike of 1913-14. With this event, Saitta is able to build a case study in order for us to get a clear understanding of class-collective action. With the excavation of these sites, such as the Ludlow tents, archaeologists can bring about many conclusions that deal with the lifestyle of the people occupying the tents. Some of the conclusions one can come up with is how the people used several strategies in order to survive and overcome the state and corporate power. The is one of the most important times in labor history for people because it highlighted labor struggles and correlated with contemporary issues dealing with similar situations. It also paved the way for new laws to improve the working conditions for a lot of employers and applied benefits to the workers.
Critical archaeology is mentioned in the book as a way of thinking in doing archaeology. The difference is that critical archaeology extends itself. It extends
ANTH 350- Historical Archaeology
Professor J. Moore- SP ‘13
Saitta Paper
The Archeology of Collective Action
When Dean Saitta wrote The Archeology of Collective Action: The American Experience in Archaeological Perspective, he aimed to address major issues that dealt with the study of archaeology. He focuses on how much archaeology has advanced and has clarified the concerns involving race, gender and class, which are all manifested into collective action. It is these actions that molded what we know today as the American experience. Saitta attests that that the discipline of archaeology not only tells us about our past, but it also tells us about what is going on in the our world today. Saitta looks at archeology and its success in the process of collective social actions that deal with the past. Some of these events include labor strikes, protests and rebellions on slave plantations. These events have impacted today’s society and Saitta analyzes the process of this.
One of the main events was the Colorado Coal Strike of 1913-14. With this event, Saitta is able to build a case study in order for us to get a clear understanding of class-collective action. With the excavation of these sites, such as the Ludlow tents, archaeologists can bring about many conclusions that deal with the lifestyle of the people occupying the tents. Some of the conclusions one can come up with is how the people used several strategies in order to survive and overcome the state and corporate power. The is one of the most important times in labor history for people because it highlighted labor struggles and correlated with contemporary issues dealing with similar situations. It also paved the way for new laws to improve the working conditions for a lot of employers and applied benefits to the workers.
Critical archaeology is mentioned in the book as a way of thinking in doing archaeology. The difference is that critical archaeology extends itself. It extends