Cultural heritage management and feminist expression in Australian archaeology

Abstract

Equity and workplace issues within cultural heritage management have influenced the development of feminist archaeology in Australia. This has resulted in an explicit recognition in Australian feminist debates that practice and theoretical expression are linked. Although this link has been recognized, it remains abstracted, and little has yet been published that explores or theorizes such links. This paper examines the development of feminist debate in Australia, and identifies some of the areas that need to be explored in theorizing the links between practice and theory. The Australian context indicates that the institutionalization of archaeological practice within cultural heritage management has helped to reinforce and institutionalize power relations in the archaeological discipline, which in turn has consequences for theory development.