"The asymmetries of disentanglement". Comment on Ian Hodder and Gavin Lucas. The symmetries and asymmetries of human-thing relations: a dialogue

Antczak, Konrad A.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1380203817000186

"The asymmetries of disentanglement". Comment on Ian Hodder and Gavin Lucas. The symmetries and asymmetries of human-thing relations: a dialogue

Citation

Antczak KA. "The asymmetries of disentanglement". Comment on Ian Hodder and Gavin Lucas. The symmetries and asymmetries of human-thing relations: a dialogue. Archaeological Dialogues. 2017 Dec;24(2):144-8. DOI: 10.1017/S1380203817000186

Abstract

In this dialogue, Hodder and Lucas skilfully manoeuvre the winding trails of archaeological theory during the last decades and critically juxtapose the discussion of symmetry and asymmetry of relations between entities with that of entanglement. Their provocative dialogue compellingly leads to the conclusion that most entanglements are in fact asymmetrical. Whereas I mostly concur with the conclusions of the dialogue, addressing the authors’ closing statements I would like to highlight the need to equally (in some ways, symmetrically) consider disentanglement as the process opposite to entanglement, along with the consequences of such disentanglement. If we are to understand better the contexts and politics of entanglements – concerns that this dialogue brings to the fore – I furthermore suggest that we more closely scrutinize the density (quantity) and joining (quality) of entanglements, as well as pay closer attention to memory, emotion and affect in entanglements.