Toward Engaged and Critical Archaeologies of the Chinese Diaspora

Drawing upon the work of other archaeologists of color and the author’s personal experiences as an Asian American woman in archaeology, this chapter explores potential future directions for Chinese American / diaspora archaeologies as a community-oriented field that is critically engaged with issues of race, racism, racialization, power, capitalism, politics, and white supremacy. Particularly inspired by black feminist archaeology and interdisciplinary work with Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies, this chapter outlines five areas for building engaged and critical archaeologies of Chinese Americans and the Chinese diaspora: recruiting and retaining more Asian American archaeologists; conducting interdisciplinary work with Ethnic Studies; engaging in collaboration with community partners; practicing critical reflexivity of positionality and privilege; and participating in contemporary politics. The chapter uses examples from Isleton Chinatown and Chinese American community cookbooks to demonstrate what community-engaged, community-collaborative critical archaeologies by archaeologists of color might look like.