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Abstract
The international cultural heritage economy has long been underpinned by a reserve
army of unemployed/underemployed labour. The entry-level workforce is being further
undermined and unpaid/underpaid labour is additionally being consolidated through
the crisis and austerity measures. Independently and under different pressures, archaeologists
across Europe have begun to use blogging, micro-blogging and other social media in
concerted national efforts to document, analyse and resist exploitative and exclusive
employment practices. This article focuses on the development of movements against
unpaid labour (free archaeology) in the UK, against unpaid and underpaid internship
(volontariato and stage) in Italy, and for employment (istihdam) in Turkey. Using
insights gained through observing and participating in these movements, and through
running a research blog on precarious labour in the cultural heritage industry, this
article examines the benefits and limits of blogging/micro-blogging as a tool for
debate within the profession, communication with the public, and activism.