The Interplay of Evidential Constraints and Political Interests: Recent Archaeological Research on Gender

Abstract

In the last few years, conference programs and publications have begun to appear that reflect a growing interest, among North American archaeologists, in research initiatives that focus on women and gender as subjects of investigation. One of the central questions raised by these developments has to do with their "objectivity" and that of archaeology as a whole. To the extent that they are inspired by or aligned with explicitly political (feminist) commitments, the question arises of whether they do not themselves represent an inherently partial and interest-specific standpoint, and whether their acceptance does not undermine the commitment to value neutrality and empirical rigor associated with scientific approaches to archaeology. I will argue that, in fact, a feminist perspective, among other critical, explicitly political perspectives, may well enhance the conceptual integrity and empirical adequacy of archaeological knowledge claims, where this is centrally a matter of deploying evidential constraints.

Identity, Nostalgia and Leisure: Technology Use in Second Homes

“…Building on and expanding Harding's notion of strong objectivity (1991) and standpoint theory (Harding 1991;Hartstock 1983;Wylie 1992) I believe that second homes can tell us a great deal about the nature of homes precisely because they are not -main homes‖ as such, this research will fill a niche in the studies of home. In its focus on comparing identity in multiple homes, it will also add to studies of identity and place.…”

“…I believe that second homes can tell us a great deal about the nature of homes precisely because they are not -main homes,‖ but rather extreme variations on them (Harding 1991;Hartstock 1983;Wylie 1992). …”

Feminismo, teoría y práctica de una arqueología científica

“…Aunque algunos trabajos habían intentado reinterpretar el registro arqueológico poniendo de relieve el papel de las mujeres en el pasado (Alberts y Medicine 1983; ver Conkey y Spector 1984; Wilkie y Howlett 2006), el feminismo fue introducido oficialmente en arqueología (Preucel 1995: 155;Voss 2000: 181;Wylie 1992Wylie : 15 y 2001 por Conkey y Spector (1984).…”

“…Gero (1985), M. Conkey y R. Tringham (1996), A. Wylie (1992), J. Spector (1991) y R. Tringham (1991), entre otras. También parece haber tenido algún impacto el trabajo de la antropóloga feminista Henrietta Moore (1988Moore ( , traducción de 1999.…”

“…La arqueología feminista se realiza verdaderamente en el propio proceso de producir conocimiento científico (Conkey y Gero 1997: 430-431), y explícitamente tiende hacia la objetividad desde una perspectiva parcial y concreta, desde una posición específica que asume su subjetividad como una característica inherente al conocimiento científico (Wylie 1992(Wylie , 1994(Wylie , 1996(Wylie , 1997(Wylie , 2002Engelstad 1991), no como una práctica perversa que es necesario evitar. Por ello, el feminismo aboga por la aplicación de un razonamiento riguroso en cada paso que damos en la construcción de nuestras inferencias, haciendo modelos científicos explicativos sólidos y justificados.…”