Critical approaches to public archaeology have been in use since the 1980s, however only recently have archaeologists begun using critical theory in conjunction with public archaeology to challenge dominant narratives of the past. This volume brings together current work on the theory and practice of critical public archaeology from Europe and the United States to illustrate the ways that implementing critical approaches can introduce new understandings of the past and reveal new insights on the present. Contributors to this volume explore public perceptions of museum interpretations as well as public archaeology projects related to changing perceptions of immigration, the working classes, and race.

Camille Westmont is the postdoctoral fellow in historical archaeology in the Department of Southern Studies at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. She received her doctorate in anthropology at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Introduction: In Pursuit of a Critical Public Archaeology
V. Camille Westmont

Part I: Work with Communities

Chapter 1. Aiming for Anti-Racism: Policies and Practices of a Publicly Engaged Archaeology Department
Mary Furlong Minkoff, Terry P. Brock, and Matthew B. Reeves

Chapter 2. Legacies of Shame, Legacies of Hope: Community Archaeology at a World War II Japanese American Internment Camp
Jeffery Burton and Mary M. Farrell

Chapter 3. Archaeology as Performance: Reanimating the Portland Wharf Landscape with Critical Public Archaeology
M. Jay Stottman

Part II: Advancing Methods

Chapter 4. Towards a Critical Archaeological Museum
Monika Stobiecka

Chapter 5. You cant replant old trees: The Combined Approach of Memory and Public Archaeology to Reinvestigate Court Housing in Liverpool, UK
Kerry Massheder-Rigby

Chapter 6. Archaeological Narratives as Critical Public Archaeology: Illuminating the Realities of Past and Present Forced Prison Labor through Story
V. Camille Westmont

Chapter 7. Expanding Critical Archaeology in the Digital Age: Building User Interfaces and Sharing the Assemblages of Archaeology in Annapolis Across the Globe
Adam Fracchia

Part III: Situating Critical Archaeology

Chapter 8. Public Archaeology through the Lens of Historiography
Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen

Chapter 9. Public perceptions of archaeology in the museum
Chiara Zuanni

Conclusion: Critical Public Archaeology in Context
Suzie Thomas