The Mechanics of Capture
Capture happens when a field lacks its own Institutional Anchors. Without standalone departments, practitioners are forced to conform to the norms of host departments:
- The Historical Trap: Focus only on preserving "important" events, ignoring the vernacular web.
- The Technical Trap: Focus only on bit-rot and storage formats, ignoring the Political Economy of why platforms die.
- The Corporate Trap: (Industry Co-optation) When "digital preservation" jobs become compliance roles for tech giants, preserving data only to train AI models.
Resistance Strategies
To avoid capture, Archaeobytology must maintain Dual Citizenship—building coalitions with allied fields while fiercely protecting its independent values (Declaration, Connection, Ground).
Field Notes
The "Adjunct" Problem: If we fail to build our own tenure lines, Archaeobytologists will forever be adjuncts in other people's departments—guests in the house of History, subject to eviction when budgets get tight.