ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly outlines the impact of critical approaches in the archival field and considers the extent to which such approaches have encountered resistance, in both theory and practice. It establishes that recent archival discourse represents a disruption not only to established archival principles but also to the archival values that underpin them, and thereby has destabilised notions of what archives are and do in society. It introduces the challenges faced by archival institutions, organisations, and practitioners in manifesting new values. The book’s central argument is introduced. Namely, that current debates, and responses to them, could be better understood if systems of archival values were delineated and traced. While the arguments of critical archival theorists and their critics are well rehearsed, considerations of underlying discursive structures have been lacking. The chapter goes on to establish what is meant by values, that is, the multiple, subjective qualities, affordances, and capabilities that are ascribed to archives, by individuals and communities. Values-based models from critical heritage studies are introduced as a way of framing the book’s approach, specifically Laurajane Smith’s theory of the Authorised Heritage Discourse.
