Am I the only person concerned that WAC appears to be abandoning one of its
principles in holding the next Congress in the USA?
It was always my understanding that WAC was to travel to those parts of the
world that rarely get to host major gatherings of any discipline, and
certainly not global such gatherings. WAC has travelled to Venezuela, India
and South Africa, and while none count as particularly off the beaten track
even for Westerners, at least others from the region were able to attend
without having to pass through Europe or the USA. It gave those territories
the opportunity to host a major event with the firm assurance that Europeans
and Americans would come and with European and American financial and
administrative backing. And it gave those of us from Europe and the USA a
good reason to travel to places we might otherwise not have reached. Most
important, it confirmed that WAC was trying to be a truly global
institution, not a regional one with imperial ambitions.
My fear is that by going to the USA, the trust that has been built by the
former policy is seriously eroded. Once WAC starts to go to the major
cosmpolitan centres (Europe, the USA) it will almost certainly (and despite
current intentions or claims to the contrary) find itself returning to other
such centres (especially major North American and European cities): the pull
is too strong, the organisational advantages too great. In doing so, WAC
will cease to be truly global: it will instead become merely another arm of
neo-colonialism, with not even a pretence of anything other than Western
ideology dominant.
John Carman
Dr John Carman
Affiliated Lecturer, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1223 333323
Fax: +44 (0)1223 333503
Email: [log in to unmask]
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