Power, Trust, and Respect: Evaluating community engagement in archaeology and heritage management

Abstract

Archaeologists hold tremendous power and voice in the present through their abilities to produce knowledge about people who came before. Their interpretations of the past affect societies today, and future generations, through impacting place-based understandings, validating or disputing knowledge, and more. Involving non-archaeologists in the research process through community engagement amplifies the potential effects. Heritage management and archaeology have long espoused the benefits of community engagement. However, practitioners on few occasions have paused to evaluate their work in a rigorous manner and shared these results with others. Without reflection and assessment, archaeologists limit themselves as negative consequences potentially go unnoticed, and errors can be repeated. This research presents an evaluation tool grounded in the perspectives and ideas of primary stakeholders: funders, practitioners, and community members. Alongside the tangible outcome of the evaluation tool, this thesis offers insight into three important themes running throughout community archaeology and evaluation: power, trust, and respect. It also shares general guidance on evaluations and five changes in practice. Keeping power, trust, and respect at the heart of all actions in community archaeology and evaluation will lead to stronger, more successful projects. The evaluation tool presented in this thesis will not be the only answer to the challenge of evaluation but contributes to a much-needed conversation