A practical guide for cultural institutions that wish to work together to more fully document their local history.

This book is about the way that professionals in archaeology and in other sectors of heritage interact with a range of stakeholder groups, communities and the wider public. Whilst these issues have been researched and discussed over many years and in many geographical contexts, the debate seems to have settled into a comfortable stasis wherein it is assumed that all that can be done by way of engagement has been done and there is little left to achieve. In some cases, such engagement is built on legislation or codes of ethics and there can be little doubt that it is an important and significant aspect of heritage policy. This book is different, however, because it questions not so much the motivations of heritage professionals but the nature of the engagement itself, the extent to which this is collaborative or contested and the implications this has for the communities concerned. Furthermore, in exploring these issues in a variety of contexts around the world, it recognises that heritage provides a source of engagement within communities that is separate from professional discourse and can thus enable them to find voices of their own in the political processes that concern them and affect their development, identity and well-being. This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of Heritage Studies.

By surveying a variety of projects and approaches to the difficult conservation-digitization balance, and in fostering a dialogue amongst practitioners, this book demonstrates that a dialogue between the fields of book conservation and digital humanities is not only possible, but in fact desirable and fruitful.

Preservation of natural and cultural heritage is often said to be something that is done for the future, or on behalf of future generations, but the precise relationship of such practices to the future is rarely reflected upon. Heritage Futures draws on research undertaken over four years by an interdisciplinary, international team of 16 researchers and more than 25 partner organisations to explore the role of heritage and heritage-like practices in building future worlds. Engaging broad themes such as diversity, transformation, profusion and uncertainty, Heritage Futures aims to understand how a range of conservation and preservation practices across a number of countries assemble and resource different kinds of futures, and the possibilities that emerge from such collaborative research for alternative approaches to heritage in the Anthropocene. Case studies include the cryopreservation of endangered DNA in frozen zoos, nuclear waste management, seed biobanking, landscape rewilding, social history collecting, space messaging, endangered language documentation, built and natural heritage management, domestic keeping and discarding practices, and world heritage site management.

Situated at the intersection of scholarship and practice, Heritage Keywords positions cultural heritage as a transformative tool for social change. This volume unlocks the persuasive power of cultural heritage—as it shapes experiences of change and crafts present and future possibilities from historic conditions—by offering new ways forward for cultivating positive change and social justice in contemporary social debates and struggles. It draws inspiration from deliberative democratic practice, with its focus on rhetoric and redescription, to complement participatory turns in recent heritage work. Through attention to the rhetorical edge of cultural heritage, contributors to this volume offer innovative reworkings of critical heritage categories. Each of the fifteen chapters examines a key term from the field of heritage practice—authenticity, civil society, cultural diversity, cultural property, democratization, difficult heritage, discourse, equity, intangible heritage, memory, natural heritage, place, risk, rights, and sustainability—to showcase the creative potential of cultural heritage as it becomes mobilized within a wide array of social, political, economic, and moral contexts. This highly readable collection will be of interest to students, scholars, and professionals in heritage studies, cultural resource management, public archaeology, historic preservation, and related cultural policy fields. Contributors include Jeffrey Adams, Sigrid Van der Auwera, Melissa F. Baird, Alexander Bauer, Malcolm A. Cooper, Anna Karlström, Paul J. Lane, Alicia Ebbitt McGill, Gabriel Moshenska, Regis Pecos, Robert Preucel, Trinidad Rico, Cecelia Rodéhn, Joshua Samuels, Kathryn Lafrenz Samuels, and Klaus Zehbe.

Examines the ethical dilemma of whether, and how, archaeologists and other experts should work with the military to protect cultural property in times of conflict. The world reacted with horror to the images of the looting of the National Museum in Iraq in 2003 - closely followed by other museums and then, largely unchecked, or archaeological sites across the country. This outcome had been predicted by many archaeologists, with some offering to work directly with the military to identify museums and sites to be avoided and protected. However, this work has since been heavily criticised by others working in the field, who claim that such collaboration lended a legitimacy to the invasion. It has therefore served to focus on the broader issue of whether archaeologists and other cultural heritage experts should ever work with the military, and, if so, under what guidelines and strictures. The essays in this book, drawn from a series of international conferences and seminars on the debate, provide an historical background to the ethical issues facing cultural heritage experts, and place them in a wider context. How do medical and religious experts justify their close working relationships with the military? Is all contact with those engaged in conflict wrong? Does working with the military really constitute tacit agreement with military and political goals, or can it be seen as contributing to the winning of a peace rather than success in war? Are guidelines required to help define roles and responsibilities? And can conflict situations be seen as simply an extension of protecting cultural property on military training bases? The book opens and addresses these and other questions as matters of crucial debate. Contributors: Peter Stone, Margaret M. Miles, Fritz Allhoff, Andrew Chandler, Oliver Urquhart Irvine, Barney White-Spunner, René Teijgeler, Katharyn Hanson, Martin Brown, Laurie Rush, Francis Scardera, Caleb Adebayo Folorunso, Derek Suchard, Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly, John Curtis, Jon Price, Mike Rowlands, Iain Shearer

Working with and for Ancestors examines collaborative partnerships that have developed around the study and care of Indigenous ancestral human remains. In the interest of reconciliation, museums and research institutions around the world have begun to actively seek input and direction from Indigenous descendants in establishing collections care and research policies. However, true collaboration is difficult, time-consuming, and sometimes awkward. By presenting examples of projects involving ancestral remains that are successfully engaged in collaboration, the book provides encouragement for scientists and descendant communities alike to have open and respectful discussions around the research and care of ancestral human remains. Key themes for discussion include new approaches to the care for ancestors; the development of culturally sensitive museum policies; the emergence of mutually beneficial research partnerships; and emerging issues such as those of intellectual property, digital data, and alternatives to destructive analyses. Critical discussions by leading scholars also identify the remaining challenges in the repatriation process and offer a means to continue moving forward. This volume will appeal to a broad, interdisciplinary audience interested in collaborative research and management strategies that are aimed at developing mutually beneficial relationships between researchers and descendant communities. This includes students and researchers in archaeology, anthropology, museums studies, and Indigenous communities.