Marco Meniketti
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Professor
Keywords |
Current Research Activities
I am currently examining the roles of immigrant communities in California history, explicitly within industrial development. I am exploring how groups maintained cultural identity despite efforts to homogenize or supress immigrant communities. I carry these research themes into the context pf planation slavery leading to the industrial revolution and trace commonalities in the treatment and exploitation of labor. Agro-industrialism contributed to the development of modern labor and social relations. I explore the nexus of historical slavery and modern labor exploitation. I further examine how industrial development has directly impacted environment through short-sighte, profit driven, unsustainable practices. I have conducted several archaeological projects to reveal the intersections of these research themes in the Caribbean and in California context. Along a different line of inquiry, I also investigate issues in maritime archaeology. I am intersted in questions related to the impacts of first contact between European explorers and indigenous peoples of California.
Personal Connections to Research
As are all Americans who are not indigenous, I am the prodcut of immigration. My Italian grandparents arrived in the United States shortly after 1900. My mothers side of the family arrived in the 1680s in the Scots-Irish diaspora. The experiences of immigrants has interested me, in particular their often overlooked employment within industry and their contribution to national and regional prosperity. I am also intensly, even passionatly, focused on social justice issues such as the legacy of slavery. A related issue, which I address in my research is environmental change. These three themes; environment, immigarnt communities, and labor are the bcakbone of my resarch agenda.
