DOC Historical Archaeology of the Irish Diaspora: A Transnational Approach by Stephen A. Brighton in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. artifacts are clues to Irish experience in AmericaBy Henry BerryAn assistant anthropology professor at the U. of Maryland; Brighton employs basic and informative archaeological research and commentary and deductions to the American vein of the Irish Diaspora of the early 1800s; like others in other areas have traced prehistoric migrations. During the 1850s; the Diaspora's height; the Irish population of New York City reached twenty-five percent. Bright adds much unfamiliar; rich detail to this well-known part of the Irish immigration story. And he also adds new dimensions to the story by accounts of New Jersey locations.The Diaspora was precipitated by famine in Ireland between the years 1845 and 1852; a period known as the Great Hunger when the potato crops which were the staple of Irish food failed repeatedly. Irish had a choice between starvation and emigration. The relatively young; growing; and European-based nation of the United States was an inviting destination. The nation accommodated the waves of Irish without really welcoming them. The Irish faced stiff and cruel prejudice by the American public and government; who were almost entirely of English heritage; as the Irish in Ireland were subjected to abuse and hardship by the English ruling class who were mostly offspring of English invaders. This is the sociological and historical backdrop of Brighton's archaeological study. It is generally discussed in so far as it helps to understand differentiating aspects of the Irish diaspora.The Irish diaspora is distinguished as "proletarian"; defined as "composed of individuals without ready capital who remain at and are forced to remain at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum." These depending on relatively simple skills and clustering together longer do not assimilate so easily; compared to individuals of a "mobilized diaspora" who have advantageous social and economic capital because of their skills; backgrounds; and reasons for emigration. The wealth of archaeological material Brighton assesses is of interest not only for its use in shedding light on Irish émigré living conditions in America; but also for how it "unmask[s] the ideologies of a modern capitalist society and how radicalized groups negotiate their status and to track the slow processes [of their] acceptance in the United States."To get such information out of the archaeological remains; Brighton has to develop novel approaches to the subject of the Irish Diaspora as well as the phenomenon of Diaspora in general. With Irish historians debating whether "the Irish dispersal [of the 1850s] should be considered a Diaspora;" the author has to provisionally create the ground and framework for the study of an Irish diaspora; then refine this for his illuminations of the Irish immigrant experience in America especially in the New York City area. While scholars may debate some of the author's source material; reasoning; and perspectives; ultimately Brighton extends interpretation of archaeological material beyond its usual focus on local living conditions; influences of other cultures; customs; etc.; to involve broader economic; sociological; and historical conditions by a "transnational" comparison of such material.