Accounting for Research: a Critical Assessment of English Heritage's Research Strategy and Agenda 2005–2010

Author: Cooper, Anwen

Source: Public Archaeology, Volume 7, Number 1, Spring 2008 , pp. 31-50(20)

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Abstract:

Social scientists and anthropologists have recently critiqued the proliferation of accountability practices, such as auditing and the creation of strategic documents, in a variety of working contexts across the globe. While practitioners in archaeology and the historic environment sector more broadly have been involved for some time in generating and implementing such documents and practices, there has been little direct discussion of why these came about or what roles they actually perform. This article addresses this omission by forefronting the recent English Heritage research strategy and Agenda 2005–2010 as objects for critical review. As well as assessing these documents in detail, it provides a broader consideration of the role of strategic practices such as these in archaeological research. While the documents under consideration are essentially English in scope, many of the points that are raised in relation to them have resonance at a wider, global scale.

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/175355308X284603

Publication date: 2008-03-01

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