ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the remaking of values is manifested in the UK, drawing on in-depth interviews with 17 English and Welsh archival practitioners, to understand how traditional and new archival values are ascribed in daily work. A critical discourse analysis of the interviews reveals how practitioners are constrained by both the contexts in which they operate and the language, symbols, and processes they use. The evidential system of values described in Chapter 2 emerges not only as an approach and intellectual underpinning of archival practice but also as a universally valid form of rationality. A shared conception of archives and of ‘doing’ archival practice operationalises the authorised archival discourse, which is further reinforced by the cultural and political contexts in which archival institutions operate. The discourse sets out disciplinary boundaries and professional identities which are embedded with each retelling. Retellings are coded into archival education, daily tasks, and overarching narratives about archives, including instrumentalisation for delivering social and public policy agendas. At the same time, while the logics of the evidential values system are highly resistant to change, practitioners show an awareness of critical approaches and new values, especially with regard to social justice, diversity, and inclusion.
