After modernity: archaeological approaches to the contemporary past

TLDR

The book focuses on the archaeology of developed, de‑industrialized societies in the late twentieth and early twenty‑first centuries, covering the end of the Cold War, the rise of the internet age, and the era of lived memory. It aims to summarize archaeological approaches to the contemporary past and propose a new agenda for studying late modern societies. The authors achieve this by reviewing existing literature and presenting detailed case studies that illustrate how archaeology can inform the study of this period and our own society. Their synthesis brings together cross‑disciplinary perspectives on contemporary material culture and establishes a new framework for investigating the materiality of late modern societies.

Abstract

This book summarizes archaeological approaches to the contemporary past, and suggests a new agenda for the archaeology of late modern societies. The principal focus is the archaeology of developed, de-industrialized societies during the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first. This period encompasses the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the 'internet age', a period which sits firmly within what we would recognize to be a period of 'lived and living memory'. Rodney Harrison and John Schofield explore how archaeology can inform the study of this time period and the study of our own society through detailed case studies and an in-depth summary of the existing literature. Their book draws together cross-disciplinary perspectives on contemporary material culture studies, and develops a new agenda for the study of the materiality of late modern societies.