Subscribe now for full access and no adverts
REVIEW BY TIMOTHY DARVILL
Archaeology is not just concerned with learning about the past – it is also about using our hard-won understandings to help inform the present and shape the future. Nowhere is this more urgent than with reference to the so-called ‘wicked problems’ mentioned in the title: a trendy street-term from the late 1960s describing global challenges that are difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete data, contradictory perspectives, and changing requirements.
Six such problems form the focus of Schofield’s book, selected no doubt from a long list of issues that could have been considered. Four – climate change, environmental pollution, health and well-being, and conflict – are already well-established areas of research in archaeology. The other two – entanglement, and social injustice – are not so visible, but are already gaining attention as the case-studies set out in the book clearly show. A final chapter entitled ‘Transformations’ brings together some of the strands running through the thematic studies, and outlines a range of models with intriguing titles such as the ‘Doughnut’ and the ‘Rainbow’ that are currently being used to conceptualise wicked problems. To integrate archaeological considerations, Schofield promotes a ‘little wins’ approach, whereby small steps forward on numerous fronts can achieve significant results.
Detailed, well-constructed, and brimming with examples drawn from around the world, this volume comprehensively introduces the topic and should stimulate debate about how archaeology can throw new light on wicked problems. By virtue of their global concerns, wicked problems have resonance across many disciplines. Accordingly, it is hoped that this book will not only be read by archaeologists, who seem to be the target audience, but also by those working in related fields, and those concerned with political strategy and policy development, so that archaeology and cultural heritage can genuinely shape our futures and help resolve some of the broad societal problems facing the world today.
Wicked Problems for Archaeologists
John Schofield
Oxford University Press, £30
ISBN 978-0192844880
