Mini-conference in which scholars, activists, and students discuss far-right appropriation in past and present. For all staff and students.

Archaeology Anti-Fascism mini-conference

Friday 20 November

Mini-conference in which scholars, activists, and students discuss far-right appropriation in past and present. For all staff and students. - part of the university series defending the university, fascism and the question of safety

Location: Treehouse Berrick Saul, Campus York

Open to all university staff and students

Free but no lunch except for speakers

Programme

12.00 walk-in.

12.15-12.30 Introduction

12.30-13.00 Chiara Bonacchi- A Framework to Understand the Weaponisation of Archaeology Online

13.00-13.30 Lunch break

13.30-14.00 Discussion round one: sharing our concerns (Eva)

14.30-15.00 Lorna Richardson: From Pamphlet to Parliament: The Past as Propaganda in British Far Right Publishing

15.00-15.30 Danika Parikh: title tba

15.30 coffee break

16.00-16.30 Student presentation

16.30-17.00 Jacob Blewett and Daniel Brown: Politicised Prehistories: Can Archaeologists Make our Research Less Vulnerable to Far-Right Appropriation?

17.00-17.30 discussion round two: what can we do? (Colleen)

17.30 finish

Abstract

Far-right and fascists groups are growing worldwide. Fuelled by online silos and social networks and endorsed by a current global climate which is publicly accepting racist, anti-queer, and xenophobic hate speech and violence ( turned into ‘everyday fascism’) and propagating a white, patriarchal society. This embrace of everyday fascism goes hand in hand with governmental integration of far right ideologies into systemic state structures: fibers of fascist thought are woven into policies everywhere. The university and the UK field of archaeology is not immune to these developments: we see it in online media, threatened heritage, in far-right appropriation of the Roman past, the behaviour of museum visitors, and on university campuses.

How can we stand up against this? Not just by condemning such behaviour, not just by stating how history and archaeology is abused and weaponised: fascists and the far right are famously uninterested in the actual past. What we should also discuss is how we can form a more supporting community, how we can work to impact systems such as student unions or university policy to become more aware and proactive in their responses. How can archaeology and archaeologists help to aid the anti-fascist movement? Both internally and outward facing, we cannot be passive. This is a moment of unity we should use to address pressing matters for the present and future of our field and the safety of its members.

Bibliography

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Banks, David Farrell-Banks, Lorna-Jane Richardson, 2024. Heritage, Archaeology, Ancestry and the Far Right, Danika Parikh

Brunache P, Dadzie BE, Goodlett K, et al. Contemporary Archaeology and Anti-Racism: A

Manifesto from the European Society of Black and Allied Archaeologists. European Journal of Archaeology. 2021;24(3):294-298. doi:10.1017/eaa.2021.21

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Dozier, C. 2026. The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate. New Haven (CT): Yale University Press.

González-Ruibal, A. & Mcguire, R.H. 2025. Archaeology and the Challenge of Populism, in R.H. McGuire & A. González-Ruibal (eds.) Archaeology, Heritage, and Reactionary Populism: 1-22. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

Hofmann D, Hanscam E, Furholt M, et al. Forum: Populism, Identity Politics, and the Archaeology of Europe. European Journal of Archaeology. 2021;24(4):519-555

Korostelina, K.V., 2025. Continuity of fascist heritage and national identity in Italy. In Memory Sites and Conflict Dynamics (pp. 117-143). Routledge.

Lakoff, G. 2014. The all new don't think of an elephant! Know your values and frame the debate. White River Junction (VT): Chelsea Green.

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Pyburn, K.A. 2023. Forum: The Past Not as Prelude. Archaeologies 19: 180-221.

Richardson, L. J. (2025). ‘In Our Blood’: Archaeology and ‘Indigeneity’ in the British National Party’s Magazine Identity. Public Archaeology, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14655187.2025.2505375.

Description supplied by the event organiser.