Dear members,
The last few months have been dramatic for many and chaotic and uncertain for all. We hope that you are all coming through the COVID-19 crisis as well as possible together with your relatives and those close to you. We also must assume that you all will be affected one way or the other in the time to come. Even if the public health situation shows signs of significant improvement in some of our countries, we do not yet see the end of this crisis. It has had, and will have, devastating effects on economic, social, and cultural life. The scale and extent of the impact is becoming apparent globally as is the growing awareness of that the need for interpersonal distancing measures, cautions about any forms of large-scale gathering and restrictions are likely to continue for some time to come. So long that a world consciousness of the disruptive effects of COVID-19 in our current ways of life is arising.
I wish to explain here the effects this has had on the EAA. We and our Budapest local organisers had no choice but to cancel, but the extraordinary response of our members to the plan for a virtual meeting has encouraged us to pursue the ambition of nothing less than a full, if virtual, 2020 Annual Meeting.
This letter explains, firstly, how we have arrived where we are. Secondly it presents the implications of this re-arrangement. And thirdly, I hold a personal view that the new situation may well bolster the progress of archaeology and make this benefit one of relevance to our societies. But this letter does not seek to substitute the presentation of a full account of the events leading up to the decision to ‘go virtual’, together with reports and data, at the forthcoming AMBM.
Meeting in VAM (Virtual Annual Meeting) instead of Budapest
Around the end of March, it became clear that our AM could not be held as planned. Events in Europe moved rapidly in March, … a time that now seems so close and so far. But has become obvious that once the pandemic wanes, resuming life “as normal” will not be easy or quick. There were signs that indicated that a great deal of uncertainty will remain until a vaccination was found, that travel restrictions are likely to remain in place for a long time, that some frontiers and nations solutions will choose how to control their own space for themselves, that new types of borders may develop where no borders existed, that the crisis has provoked entirely negative economic developments and has disrupted social and cultural life, and that at a more personal level, the psychological effect on many individuals is being harsh. Already by the end of April was becoming clear that the world was facing uncertain times; that a new era will emerge from here.
In that politico-social context, the EAA Board sought to deal with an uncertain future by focusing on our members and providing them with as much continuity as possible. That means to continue to provide that special EAA environment of collegial support, the forum for the continuing exchange of information and reflection, and an ability to network – i.e. the EAA as the EAA has always been.
Even by April the widespread hardship and negative effects on the archaeological sector and individual archaeologists, in academia, research, fieldwork and commercial were undeniable. The whole heritage sector and other related domains (tourism, cultural activity, public works) closely linked to archaeology, were affected by then.
Continuity in these circumstances meant for the EAA to preserve in our vision and mission while facing major change.
Postponing our AM and transferring our programs, abstracts and ideas to next year, was not an option. The Executive Board was unanimous that this could be, at best, unsuccessful and, at worst, hugely damaging. Not only it would leave the EAA without its annual forum, when most needed, but would also provoke a big loss of membership in 2020 and threaten the EAA’s hard-won financial stability and representability.
No, this was not an option. And this was not compatible with the vision that has guided EAA’s collegial membership environment for the past 26 years. Nor would it do anything towards providing continuity and a secure future for our members. Your Board felt that we could not miss ‘the beat’ of the new times. We also felt we could surely be more creative in finding a solution. 2020 could not be a “lost year” for the EAA membership. From an economic perspective, it would be ruinous for the organisation. From a disciplinary perspective, a vacuum. From a social, irresponsible. And from a professional, a sudden frozen.
Therefore, there were very good reasons to substitute the 2020 AM in Budapest for a Virtual Annual Meeting (VAM). But the main one was not to accept that confinement meant a temporal interruption of life but to think creatively. History cannot just stop and resume exactly as it was after few months.
2021 will be very different to 2020. We must place in this awareness to reflect as it will be and how we can do better in the future to come. Our Kiel colleagues are well ahead with their plans for 2021 AM and will give us the best arena to deepen in these reflections.
It took longer than we wished to be in a position to announce the details of the 2020 VAM. It required time to build up the new alternative and to research, understand and plan its practicalities. Moreover, wrapping up the cancelled Budapest AM took a lot of dialogue, work and time. The aim from the start was to arrive at a mutually agreed outcome that was workable for the EAA, the Budapest local organization (Scientific Committee, ELTE University, our main host in Budapest, and the local PCO) and also organizers of Kiel following annual meeting. We had to establish a framework for practical resolution. We also acknowledge a huge depth of gratitude to the organizers of the Belfast AM who postponed to 2023 in order to facilitate a ‘slot’ in 2022 for Budapest; the team there is still very excited about organising the EAA AM there.
While we were dealing with all these matters and their associated negotiations, we were clarifying our thinking and preparation planning for the organization of the VAM. Once we finally reached an agreement with the Budapest PCO, and with the continuing support of our ELTE colleagues and the Scientific Committee, we were clear to proceed.
Implications of rearranging the AM as Virtual
The EAA 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting is a ‘ground-breaking’ initiative; it heralds a new era for the organisation. We have worked very hard to establish and clarify the practicalities and details of different options and their scenarios. We looked - and got - your patience and understanding in this regard. The atmosphere of membership trust we transpired, supported by numerous positive messages and a remarkable lack of complaint or negative reaction, was very helpful, constructive and left us free to act.
The VAM will include the full academic program, as at all our annual meetings. Moreover, it will have a virtual Opening Ceremony with all the speakers that has agreed to partake. It will include our keynote presentations; all our sessions; our round tables and break-out chat rooms. In effect, members will have the opportunity to present, to network, to interact and to progress their professional lives and profiles. Our Community meetings and their general meeting will also be held. At present, more than 150 sessions have confirmed their participation, involving 1800 presentations. The 2020 Annual Members Business Meeting (AMBM) will be held together with the critically important elections this year that include: an incoming President; a new Secretary; and posts in the Executive Board and the Nomination Committee.
By organizing the VAM in 2020, EAA ensures that members have the opportunity to present for public scrutiny the work they are doing in 2020. It will also provide an opportunity to members to describe and discuss the impacts of what they are dealing with at a personal/professional level in whatever new conditions they are experiencing and how these are affecting their career development and work generally. One of our main concerns was the real need for our younger members and early career researchers and professionals to share their experiences and keep their curricular development. For many it is even more important this year when most other important international conferences in archaeology (those that substantially contribute to CV and career building) are being cancelled.
Furthermore, during the past three years, the Board and the Secretariat have received different proposals and requests from members to facilitate remote presentation and participation in our scientific programmes and round table discussions. We have been examining the possibilities and our potential capacity to respond adequately. This trend and the number of requests have increased in the past two years, largely because of travel expenses and the understandable demand to reduce the carbon footprint of our conferences. The Board already agreed that we should respond creatively to these requests as soon as financially feasible in the future. It seems that the present conditions of the COVID-19 crisis have catapulted us in this direction.
As you could envisage, the VAM has involved a huge investment of time, effort and funds. The costs are high, but they are affordable and will not compromise the financial health that EAA built in the last few years. At present, it seems manageable.
The decision to perform VAM as a service to members was unanimous within the Board considering the exceptional circumstances this year and it had the full support of the Secretariat staff. So, there will be no registration fee or other charge for EAA members; all members that are current in 2020 can take part in the Virtual Annual Meeting. This policy has been approved by the EAA Executive Board considering the exceptional circumstances that we all face and, particularly, in attention to those who suffer from the devastating economic impact of the ongoing crisis in the archaeological sector. We thank those who have chosen to donate all or part of the Budapest registration fees towards this effort. We feel hugely supported and honoured by them. This gesture says something about the sort of collegial association the EAA is.
All members should note that the capacity of the EAA to react quickly to this unprecedented experience, and create an alternative, has relied entirely on the level of knowledge, professionalism and commitment of our Secretariat in Prague. This task would have been a ‘mission impossible’ without the development of our Secretariat in recent years and the reorganization of our executive and administrative procedures. It simply has made us more flexible and more resilient. We were ready and able to take on the challenge.
I see the VAM a major opportunity. I hope it will be a big success for everyone. It is also, clearly, a big risk. But we feel it is a risk worth taking with the ambition of running ‘business as usual’ in this unusual time.
The reinvention of normality
COVID-19 times would be interesting if they were not dramatic and with so many negative consequences for many of you. Your concern, as mine, will be what humankind can learn from this. How to overcome the problem? How to avoid similar crisis in the mid future? How to create conditions for improving our world?
One lesson from COVID-19 is that, almost everywhere, many responses were inadequate and everything that did not work, failed. Anything that was not adapted or renewed, went wrong. Many States failed to protect their most vulnerable citizens. Many health systems could not deal with the load and failed to take care of those most in need. The recent technocratic adaptations in public management failed to predict and solve the problems that arose. In many countries, the delays in political decision-making and heavy administrative bureaucracy made it difficult to respond any faster than they did. In others countries the neoliberal reforms in the public sector resulted in a situation where these were unable to manage the big crisis and its effects.
Another lesson learnt is that, COVID-19 has revealed how deeply divided the world is and is producing an even more divided world, in spite of all the efforts of community and citizen responses, that built their own structures to provide support to the disadvantaged and disabled in society, and to counteract difficulties based on gender, race and class differences. “Black lives matter” and reactions against George Floyd´s death had to remember to what extend racism is still systemic to capitalism. Reinforcement of national borders, rising reactionary populism and divisive and partisan chauvinist politics are becoming evident in different countries across Europe and beyond. Some of these divisive trends are of deep concern. Even the Institute of Art and Ideas convoked a debate (May 29) on the theme quoting: “From geographical borders to ideological differences, we have perhaps never seemed more divided than during the Covid-19 lockdown”.
An important lesson for me is that even I, as your President, also failed in some way. At the end of February, we had a Board meeting in Prague. The matter about COVID-19 was actually on the table, but we had no information to go on. We commented whether it could affect plans for Budapest AM. We realised we could only wait and see how events developed. Many times since then I have revisited that meeting and asked myself how we/I did not see the problem arising. It is easy to say that at the time no one was thinking that way. It is easy to say that we did not see it coming because the others (our Governments, our health services, our governmental officers, the WHO, China…) did not say or foresee anything. There the problem is. None saw because no one else saw. But if I excuse myself for not anticipating the problem because none did, I am saying that the responsibility is also mine simply because all the others could look at me and say the same.
This all demonstrates that normality failed because the precedent ‘normality’ was the problem across the globe. This is sufficient reason to consider that coming back to normality may not occur. What “normality”? In Spain the situation after the confinement of the COVID period is being called a “new normality”. Perhaps it is simply better to speak about the reinvention of normality, or even “postnormality” (a concept already proposed in 1993 by Funtowicz and Ravetz as to adapt science to the conditions of the contemporary world).
The important question to me now is how archaeology and the EAA should respond, how we can collaborate to answer how archaeologists and archaeological practices and knowledge can help society to reinvent normality, and how archaeology can adapt to the new social priorities and issues that now preoccupy our communities?
For such a mission, I always suggest we must adopt a view from the day after. Thinking in tomorrow for acting today. Archaeology can help in this. Because archaeology is not just about the past but about the future. As archaeologists we have the capacity to see how the past futures arose and this knowledge helps us to see how the future comes into existence. Right now we are witness to how the future is being rapidly shaped.
There are many practical responses. Those of you who are dealing with past pandemics, social complexity and the weaknesses of complex systems have good answers at hand. Our knowledge about the weakness of complex systems in history, should help us and others to understand and cope with the uncertainty.
But I am convinced that our potential is greater. We need not be restricted to examining alternative models of tourism, community projects, rural development and sustainability (topics that archaeology must quickly revise). Hundreds of archaeological excavations and field-works projects have been suspended throughout Europe with huge damage this brings to archaeological activities, companies and professionals. We must mobilize our expertise and innovative capacities to back national and professional associations to resist this damage. The weakening of heritage protection schemes and laws with the excuse of economic recovery, must be challenged and counteracted at all costs.
Those who are working with contemporary archaeology, materiality and wellbeing, historical memory, forensic archaeology, and future heritages have got here an extraordinary domain and opportunity to apply your critical inquiries into topics of high social relevance, now and after. A key matter for the future will be how the memories of COVID-19 and post-COVID strategies are built and become materialized (a vision from Cristina Sánchez-Carretero); there again archaeology, as the discipline of materials, will have things to say. Even more: something that we know is that current information, data and monitoring of COVID-19 pandemic are not always accurate. To know what really happened in many areas, to even count victims, will be a matter for future archaeological research, for forensic archaeology and for historic investigation. Indeed, there are suspicions that some former totalitarian countries with terrible expertise in missing people, are using the know-how they developed to invisibilize victims and miss legal and material traces of persons to hidden COVID-19 victims (a vision from Marcia Hattori). If this is true, there is here another topic to be accounted by future archaeological research.
Archaeology, by taking advantage of our particular expertise and the special engagement of scientific and narrative perspectives that we represent, must be part of the process of embedding the socio-human dimension in the analysis and resolution of the COVID-19 crisis and seek to overcome current trends to mainly restrict research to merely biomedical approaches.
These are just ideas. We can expect that, in the course of our VAM, there will be many opportunities to discuss these and other topics, relying on the diversity of presentations that are planned.
The EAA will be strengthened after this crisis because it is capable of adaptation. It has taken on the risk of experiencing something different in the confidence that something new and positive will be the result.
The future is unknown and unknowable. But, whatever it happens, whatever output we achieve at the end of the day after a busy virtual meeting week on August 30, we will be stronger, enriched by the hours of dialog and the dynamics of our collective thinking.
Keep well and take care, of your people, your surrounding and profession.
Kind regards,
Felipe Criado-Boado
President
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