An Archaeology of the Twentieth Century in the Anthracite Coal Region of Northeast Pennsylvania

Chapter 1 provides a broad theoretical, historical, and ethnographic context to the research, and an overview of the major research questions addressed in the book. Topics such as the approach to the structural violence of everyday life in the twentieth century, the relationship between migrants and the sovereignty of political states, racialization, and the labor needs of late industrial capitalism are addressed. Relevant theoretical concepts from scholars such as Giorgio Agamben, Walter Benjamin and Karl Marx are introduced here. The ethnographic and discursive context of immigrant discrimination in the present, and the manner in which it informs the broad trajectory of the research is presented. Lastly, the manner in which interdisciplinary data is applied to this research is also presented.