8th July 2008, 03:27 PM
As I said... just thinking (and a bit of playing Devil's Advocate)Certainly agree with both Oxbeast and Gonetopot...
"But the main difference between archaeology, and, say, the water or rail monopolies is that there is no regulator."
and...
"I agree that there are many benefits to a 'single, accredited and answrable' organisation but shouldn't this be English Heritage (before it was emasculated) rather than what is essentially a corporate, development (or developer) led commercial unit?"
Yes... there should (note should) be a regulator. There certainly is a need for one now... one that is structured, acredited, regulated (self or otherwise) and 'with teeth' (ie the cahunas to actually reprimand the shoddies and kick out the naughties). English Heritage is going through a bit of a navel gazing / wound licking thing at the moment and, rightly said, emasculated. So... we come to the IFA (a 'juicy' topic from another thread)... no teeth, a bit self-serving and no real clout in the real world. If there is to be monopoly or even duopoly, there is a real need for an organisation that regulates it strongly, yet justly.
In my more dystopian, navel-gazing moments (often after a few beers)I thought about the future of British archaeology... I've seen two (possibly three) super-units (or uberunits) who have it all stitched up. There will be competition enough between the two (three) of them to keep the wages down, the conditions crap and the clients happy. They will be strong and unanswerable because there is no regulator strong (or willing) enough to take them on. They won't allow unions. They will have swallowed up all the small minnows ages ago, taken the best staff and resources out of them and discarded the rest as junk ("I'm sorry... you're just a bit too old/jaded/underqualified/overspecialised for our company ethos").
In my more utopian, fluffy moments, I've imagined a place where every archaeologist has a job (full-time, core staff), has all the resources necessary to hand and has back-up when ever he/she needs it. Maybe that could come about from having a company monopoly... but it has to be in tandem with a regulatory body that 'kicks butt'.
Anything must be better than the situation we are in (and have been for some time now)
I hate every ape I see,
From chimpan-a to chimpanzee,
You'll never make a monkey out of me!
"But the main difference between archaeology, and, say, the water or rail monopolies is that there is no regulator."
and...
"I agree that there are many benefits to a 'single, accredited and answrable' organisation but shouldn't this be English Heritage (before it was emasculated) rather than what is essentially a corporate, development (or developer) led commercial unit?"
Yes... there should (note should) be a regulator. There certainly is a need for one now... one that is structured, acredited, regulated (self or otherwise) and 'with teeth' (ie the cahunas to actually reprimand the shoddies and kick out the naughties). English Heritage is going through a bit of a navel gazing / wound licking thing at the moment and, rightly said, emasculated. So... we come to the IFA (a 'juicy' topic from another thread)... no teeth, a bit self-serving and no real clout in the real world. If there is to be monopoly or even duopoly, there is a real need for an organisation that regulates it strongly, yet justly.
In my more dystopian, navel-gazing moments (often after a few beers)I thought about the future of British archaeology... I've seen two (possibly three) super-units (or uberunits) who have it all stitched up. There will be competition enough between the two (three) of them to keep the wages down, the conditions crap and the clients happy. They will be strong and unanswerable because there is no regulator strong (or willing) enough to take them on. They won't allow unions. They will have swallowed up all the small minnows ages ago, taken the best staff and resources out of them and discarded the rest as junk ("I'm sorry... you're just a bit too old/jaded/underqualified/overspecialised for our company ethos").
In my more utopian, fluffy moments, I've imagined a place where every archaeologist has a job (full-time, core staff), has all the resources necessary to hand and has back-up when ever he/she needs it. Maybe that could come about from having a company monopoly... but it has to be in tandem with a regulatory body that 'kicks butt'.
Anything must be better than the situation we are in (and have been for some time now)
I hate every ape I see,
From chimpan-a to chimpanzee,
You'll never make a monkey out of me!