RUNNING BACK THE BREXIT CLOCK: NEW PERSPECTIVES AHEAD FOR INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS?
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 10/02/2021

Archaeology has long been recognised as a Janus-faced discipline, at once ”eminently national” and also resolutely international, and indeed transnational. These combined characteristics have transpired time and again in historical contexts, be it regarding the archaeological exploration of the Mediterranean cradle of European civilisation, the exhumation and translocations of the monuments of the ancient Orient, or the ”opening up” of colonial lands for human origins research. Throughout these and other episodes, all the way to the 21 century, the fault-lines and centres of gravity have been relatively well know. This historical perspective, as briefly presented in this paper, provides one possible backdrop for making sense of the eventual configurations to emerge since June 2016 out of the UK self-inflicted Brexit (with all the caveats of uncertainty). Regardless of strong personal and intellectual affinities, prospects for collaborations on matters of organisation and funding, as well as research, public outreach and heritage management, will all have to be reconsidered and negotiated.

Even if by default, even if with bemusement and bitterness, this necessity for reconsidering and reconstructing new forms of relationships can bring forward some new ideas and perspectives – we should look out for that perspective, and then use the invigorating forum of the EAA for promoting international collaboration across the continent and globally.


Author(s): Schlanger, Nathan (Ecole nationale des chartes, Paris; UMR Trajectoires, Nanterre)