Anarchist literature and the development of anarchist counter-archaeologies

A recent surge in interest in the application of anarchist theory to archaeology follows from earlier work in the field of anarchic anthropology. Published work in both anarchic archaeology and anthropology has tended to make little use of the large and challenging body of literature created by members of anarchist political and philosophical movements over the last 180 years. This paper explores a sample of themes from anarchist literature that intersect with the interests of archaeologists. It is argued that ideas such as the anarchist use of surrealism, the anarchist take on environmentalism and radical anarchist history might all provide useful inspiration to archaeologists. It is clear however that the nature of the alternative philosophies utilized by anarchists will not make incorporating the work into archaeology a straightforward task, and archaeologists themselves are not exempt from the critical analysis of anarchists.