Abbreviation | WAC |
---|---|
Predecessor | 1986 |
Presidents | Koji Mizoguchi |
Website | worldarch |
The World Archaeological Congress (WAC) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization which promotes world archaeology. It is the only global archaeological organisation with elected representation.
Established in 1986, WAC holds an international Congress every four years to promote the exchange of results from archaeological research; professional training and public education for disadvantaged nations, groups and communities; the empowerment and betterment of Indigenous groups and First Nations peoples; and the conservation of archaeological sites.
The World Archaeological Congress was established in 1986, after a controversy concerning the planned attendance of South African and Namibian scholars at the 11th Congress of the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences in Southampton, United Kingdom. In the run-up to the congress, Southampton City Council and other organizations funding the meeting demanded that scholars from South Africa and Namibia were banned from participation in view of Apartheid in South Africa. [1] The British organizers complied with this demand, but the Executive Committee of UISPP ultimately ruled that it was against the organization's constitution to exclude any international scholars, and withdrew its endorsement of the conference. The National Secretary of the Congress, Peter Ucko, moved forward with the meeting under a new name, the World Archaeological Congress. [2] The resulting meeting drew in 1000 people from 100 countries, with the special attempt to include people from new nations and minority groups to participate in the congress. [3] Since that time, WAC has "constituted itself as a uniquely representative non-profit organization of worldwide archaeology that recognizes the historical and social role, and the political context, of archaeology, and the need to make archaeological studies relevant to the wider community. It especially seeks to debate and refute institutionalized views that serve the interests of a privileged few to the detriment of disenfranchised others. WAC explicitly values diversity against institutionalized mechanisms that marginalize the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples, minorities and the poor". [4]
World Archaeological Congresses are held every four years, with several Inter-Congresses between the main congresses. The congresses vary in their seasonality, but present the opportunity to present research, participate in panels, and socialize with other members. Congresses have been held on six continents and attract large, multinational attendance. The locations of the congresses are chosen to encourage inclusivity within the means of people from around the world. [5] Locating congresses outside of 'First World' venues has led to political and social complications for WAC. For example, WAC-3 in India was besieged by media coverage after the then president of the international executive committee J. Golson banned discussion of the destruction of the Ayodhya mosque during the conference. [6]
Patrons for past Congresses have included Prince Charles (WAC-1), Nelson Mandela (WAC-4), Harriet Fulbright (WAC-5), and Abdullah II of Jordan (WAC-7)
Meeting | Location | Date | Patron |
---|---|---|---|
1st | Southampton, United Kingdom | September 1–6, 1986 | Prince Charles |
2nd | Barquisimeto, Venezuela | September 4–8, 1990 | |
3rd | New Delhi, India | December 4–11, 1994 | |
4th | Cape Town, South Africa | January 10–14, 1999 | Nelson Mandela |
5th | Washington, D.C., United States | June 21–26, 2003 | Harriet Fulbright |
6th | Dublin, Ireland | June 29–July 4, 2008 | Mary McAleese [7] |
7th | Dead Sea, Jordan | January 14–18, 2013 | Abdullah II of Jordan |
8th | Kyoto, Japan | August 28–September 2, 2016 | |
9th | Prague, Czech Republic | Originally scheduled for July 5–10 2020; rescheduled to July 3–8, 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. [8] | Eva Zažímalová |
10th | Darwin, Australia | June 22-27, 2025 |
The World Archaeological Congress holds Inter-Congresses which are regionally and thematically organized. Locations include Vermillion, United States, Mombasa, Kenya, Brač, Croatia, Catamarca, Argentina, Kingston, Jamaica, Osaka, Japan, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, Łódź, Poland, Olavarría, Argentina, New Zealand, Curaçao, Ramallah, Palestine and Indianapolis, United States.
Selected papers from these conferences are published in the One World Archaeology Series. In mid-2012 there were 58 books in this series. WAC also publishes Archaeologies, the Journal of the World Archaeological Congress. A full list of the book series and journals that WAC publishes is available.
The World Archaeological Congress has produced ground-breaking for the conduct of archaeologists. These include the Vermillion Accord on Human Remains which calls for respect for the dead and descendent communities and the Tamaki Makau-rau Accord on the Display of Human Remains and Sacred Objects which requires permission from community members before displaying human remains and artifacts.
The Global Libraries Program aims to develop the archaeological literary collections of economically-disadvantaged institutions. By supporting such libraries, we hope to assist archaeological and cultural heritage management students and professionals to undertake and excel at their study and work.
Michael Day (1986–1990), Jack Golson (1990–1994), Bassey Wai Andah (1994–1997), Gilbert Pwiti (acting 1998–1999), Martin Hall (1999–2003), Claire Smith (2003–2013), Koji Mizoguchi (2013–present)
Post-processual archaeology, which is sometimes alternatively referred to as the interpretative archaeologies by its adherents, is a movement in archaeological theory that emphasizes the subjectivity of archaeological interpretations. Despite having a vague series of similarities, post-processualism consists of "very diverse strands of thought coalesced into a loose cluster of traditions". Within the post-processualist movement, a wide variety of theoretical viewpoints have been embraced, including structuralism and Neo-Marxism, as have a variety of different archaeological techniques, such as phenomenology.
Coloureds refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia who have ancestry from African, European, and Asian people. The intermixing of different races began in the Dutch Cape Colony of South Africa, with European settlers intermixing with the indigenous Khoi tribes, and Asian slaves of the region. Later various other European nationals also contributed to the growing mixed race people, who would later be officially classified as coloured by the apartheid government in the 1950s.
Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first president of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in 1960. Before 1960, SWAPO was known as the Ovambo People's Organisation (OPO). He played an important role as leader of the national liberation movement in campaigning for Namibia's political independence from South African rule. He established the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1962 and launched a guerrilla war against the apartheid government of South Africa in August 1966 at Omugulugwombashe, beginning after the United Nations withdrew the mandate for South Africa to govern the territory. Nujoma led SWAPO during the lengthy Namibian War of Independence, which lasted from 1966 to 1989.
Peter John Ucko FRAI FSA was an influential English archaeologist. He served as Director of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London (UCL), and was a Fellow of both the Royal Anthropological Institute and the Society of Antiquaries. A controversial and divisive figure within archaeology, his life's work focused on eroding western dominance by broadening archaeological participation to developing countries and indigenous communities.
The International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences is a learned society, linked through the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies to UNESCO, and concerned with the study of prehistory and protohistory. In the words of its constitution:
The University of the Western Cape is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African apartheid government as a university for Coloured people only. Other universities in Cape Town are the University of Cape Town, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and Stellenbosch University. The establishing of UWC was a direct effect of the Apartheid-era Extension of University Education Act, 1959. This law accomplished the segregation of higher education in South Africa. Coloured students were only allowed at a few non-white universities. In this period, other "ethnical" universities, such as the University of Zululand and the University of the North, were founded as well. Since well before the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994, it has been an integrated and multiracial institution.
The Frontline States (FLS) were a loose coalition of African countries from the 1960s to the early 1990s committed to ending apartheid in South Africa and South West Africa, and white minority rule in Rhodesia to 1980. The FLS included Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The FLS disbanded after Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa in 1994.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) was a South African popular front that existed from 1983 to 1991. The UDF comprised more than 400 public organizations including trade unions, students' unions, women's and parachurch organizations. The UDF's goal was to establish a "non-racial, united South Africa in which segregation is abolished and in which society is freed from institutional and systematic racism." Its slogan was "UDF Unites, Apartheid Divides." The Front was established in 1983 to oppose the introduction of the Tricameral Parliament by the white-dominated National Party government, and dissolved in 1991 during the early stages of the transition to democracy.
Swaraj Prakash Gupta was a prominent Indian archaeologist, art historian authority, Chairman of Indian Archaeological Society, founder of the Indian History and Culture Society, and Director of the Allahabad Museum. He was most noted for several excavations Indus Valley civilisation sites and for his support of the existence of a destroyed Ram Mandir underneath the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
The academic boycott of South Africa comprised a series of boycotts of South African academic institutions and scholars initiated in the 1960s, at the request of the African National Congress, with the goal of using such international pressure to force the end to South Africa's system of apartheid. The boycotts were part of a larger international campaign of "isolation" that eventually included political, economic, cultural and sports boycotts. The academic boycotts ended in 1990, when its stated goal of ending apartheid was achieved.
The Black Radical Congress (BRC) is an organization founded in 1998 in Chicago. It is a grassroots network of individuals and organizations of African descent focused on advocating for broad progressive social justice, racial equality and economic justice goals within the United States.
Constructive engagement was the name given to the conciliatory foreign policy of the Reagan administration towards the apartheid regime in South Africa. Devised by Chester Crocker, Reagan's U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, the policy was promoted as an alternative to the economic sanctions and divestment from South Africa demanded by the UN General Assembly and the international anti-apartheid movement. Among other objectives, it sought to advance regional peace in Southern Africa by linking the end of South Africa's occupation of Namibia to the end of the Cuban presence in Angola.
South Africa – Zambia relations refers to the current and historical relationship between South Africa and Zambia. Both countries are members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and African Union.
Joan Margaret Gero was an American archaeologist and pioneer of feminist archaeology. Her research focused on gender and power issues in prehistory, particularly in the Andean regions of Argentina and Peru.
One World Archaeology is a book series focussing on archaeology and education about the past.
Robben Island Prison is an inactive prison on Robben Island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometers (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa. Nobel Laureate and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there for 18 of the 27 years he served behind bars before the fall of apartheid. Since then, three former inmates of the prison have gone on to become President of South Africa.
Peter G. Stone, is a British heritage professional and academic, who is the current UNESCO Chair in Cultural Property Protection and Peace at Newcastle University. He was the vice-president of Blue Shield International from 2017 to 2020, and was elected its president at the 2020 General Assembly. He is also a founding member and the chair of the UK Committee of that organisation.
Academic Freedom and Apartheid: The Story of the World Archaeological Congress by Peter Ucko is a personal account of the 1986 World Archaeological Congress (WAC), originally intended to be the eleventh congress of the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (IUPPS). Ucko, who organised the Congress, presents a linear account of how the Congress came to ban participation by South Africans and Namibians as part of the Academic boycott of South Africa, and how this led to it splitting from the IUPPS. It quotes extensively from sources such as correspondence, minutes, newspapers, WAC publicity, and others' accounts of the WAC.
Reginald Herbold Green was an American development economist who focused on African economic issues. His research focus included studying the economies of eastern and southern Africa, South African Development Community (SADC), international organizations and aid disbursement, and the Economic Commission on Africa, specializing in poverty alleviation, development enablement, and economic liberalization.
The anti-apartheid movement was a worldwide effort to end South Africa's apartheid regime and its oppressive policies of racial segregation. The movement emerged after the National Party government in South Africa won the election of 1948 and enforced a system of racial segregation through legislation. Opposition to the apartheid system came from both within South Africa and the international community, in particular Great Britain and the United States. The anti-apartheid movement consisted of a series of demonstrations, economic divestment, and boycotts against South Africa. In the United States, anti-apartheid efforts were initiated primarily by nongovernmental human rights organizations. On the other hand, state and federal governments were reluctant to support the call for sanctions against South Africa due to a Cold War alliance with the country and profitable economic ties. The rift between public condemnation of apartheid and the U.S government's continued support of the South African government delayed efforts to negotiate a peaceful transfer to majority rule. Eventually, a congressional override of President Reagan's veto resulted in passage of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act in 1986. However, the extent to which the anti-apartheid movement contributed to the downfall of apartheid in 1994 remains under debate.