Wicked Problems for Archaeologists: Heritage as Transformative Practice

’Wicked Problems’ are those problems facing the planet and its inhabitants, present and future, which are hard (if not impossible) to resolve and for which bold, creative, and messy solutions are typically required. The adjective ’wicked’ describes the mischievous and even evil quality of these problems, where proposed solutions often turn out to be worse than the symptoms. This wide-ranging and innovative book encourages readers to think about archaeology in an entirely new way, as fresh, relevant, and future-oriented. It examines some of the novel ways that archaeology (alongside cultural heritage practice) can contribute to resolving some of the world’s most wicked problems, or global challenges as they are sometimes known. With chapters covering climate change, environmental pollution, health and wellbeing, social injustice, and conflict, the book uses many and diverse examples to explain how, through studying the past and present through an archaeological lens, in ways that are creative, ambitious, and both inter- and transdisciplinary, significant ’small wins’ can be achieved. Through these small wins, archaeologists can help to mitigate some of those most pressing of wicked problems, contributing therefore to a safer, healthier, and more stable world.

John Schofield, Director of Studies, Cultural Heritage Management, University of York

John Schofield is a Professor in the Archaeology Department at the University of York (UK). Following a PhD at Southampton University, John spent 21 years with English Heritage (now Historic England) before being appointed to the University of York in 2010, going on to serve as Head of Archaeology. John holds adjunct positions at Griffith and Flinders universities (Australia), and is Docent at the University of Turku (Finland). John is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a Corresponding Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.