"Archaeology as Therapy: Archaeological Heritage in the Rainbow Nation" with Lynn Maskell, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University

This talk outlines how archaeology and heritage operate within South Africa's political economy, how salient they have become as therapeutic loci, and the subsequent challenges of that centrality. As the nation recovers from politically institutionalized racism and an educational policy of historical revisionism, the notion of heritage is increasingly turned to as a collective remedy. While heritage has been touted as a wellspring for national pride as well as for economic growth in South Africa, the enabling infrastructure and concrete linkages made between resources and outcomes often remains tenuous. I ask here, how can the past be employed as therapy and more specifically, how will heritage pay?