Towards a new archival science. Anthropologising the archive and the archival materials
Towards a new archival science. Anthropologising the archive and the archival materials

Summary/Abstract: The article puts forward a proposal of new archival science – anthropologised archival science. The new archival science is discussed inthe context of changes in the understanding of archives as the practiceof collecting, storing and providing access to archival collections. Themodern understanding of the archives has been grounded in the naturalisticapproach to thinking about the world and people. The key factor shapingthe naturalistic understanding of archives was the socio-cultural context,specifically the emergence of nation states and bureaucracy. In the 19thcentury, the archive, just like other elements of bureaucracy, came to beunderstood as free from context, discussion, ideology, or in a broadersense, culture. The 20th century has changed but little in such an approachto archival science. Only slight adjustments were made. The proposal fora new archival science goes beyond these adjustments. It is a shift toward sits cultural understanding, on the grounds of anthropological understanding of culture.

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