The Archaeology of American Protests - (American Experience in Archaeological Perspective) by April M Beisaw & Dania Jordan-Talley (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book uses historical and contemporary archaeology to explore the past 400 years of American protest history, revealing how ideals such as equality, prosperity, and self-determination have been challenged and negotiated through protests and connecting today's protest movements to those that came long before.

Book Synopsis

Exploring the history of American protest movements
through an archaeological perspective, connecting protests of the past with
resistance today

In this book,
April Beisaw and Dania Jordan-Talley use historical and contemporary
archaeology to explore the past 400 years of American protest history. The
Archaeology of American Protests reveals how ideals such as equality,
prosperity, and self-determination have been challenged and negotiated through
protests, connecting today's protest movements to those that came long before.

Beisaw and
Jordan-Talley examine materials excavated from the sites of protests as well as
photographs, graffiti, banners, barriers, and weaponry used to suppress
protestors. The book features case studies of movements for Indigenous rights,
women's rights, environmental activism, and other causes. The authors trace
connections between historical protests such as Bacon's Rebellion of 1676, the
Pueblo Revolt of 1680, and the Boston Tea Party of 1773 to recent protests
including Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and the Standing Rock Dakota
Access Pipeline resistance.

Through the
perspectives of activist archaeology, community-based archaeology, and social
justice, this book shows how protests are integral to the American experience. It
demonstrates how communal and public actions aimed at changing the status quo occur
in moments of opportunity, while decades later these protests can take on new
meanings and be seen in retrospect as moments of pride. Documenting protest
sites and material culture can preserve the heritage of social activism, set
realistic expectations for social change, and inspire actions for better
futures.

A volume in the
series the American Experience in Archaeological Perspective, edited by Michael
S. Nassaney and Krysta Ryzewski