"Compelling, energizing, and foundational. Opens up an anthropological orientation, one which is welcome and exhilarating. Lafrenz Samuels's equally significant introduction of the transnational as a new orientation in heritage studies offers an escape route from the conception of heritage as monopolized by the nation-state."--Denis Byrne, author of Counterheritage: Critical Perspectives on Heritage Conservation in Asia Mapping out emerging areas for global cultural heritage, this book provides an anthropological perspective on the growing field of heritage studies. Kathryn Lafrenz Samuels adopts a dual focus--looking back on the anthropological foundations for cultural heritage research while looking forward to areas of practice that reach beyond national borders: economic development, climate action, democratic practice, heritage rights, and global justice. Working around the traditional authority of the nation-state and intergovernmental treaty-based organizations such as UNESCO, these issues characterize heritage activity in transnational networks. Lafrenz Samuels argues that transnational heritage involves an important shift from a paradigm of preservation to a paradigm of development. Responding to this expanding developmental sensibility, she positions cultural heritage as a persuasive tool for transformative action, capable of mobilizing and shaping social change. She shows how anthropological approaches help support the persuasive power of heritage in the transnational sphere.

As tourism service standards become more homogeneous, travel destinations worldwide are conforming yet still trying to maintain, or even increase, their distinctiveness. Based on more than two years of fieldwork in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and Arusha, Tanzania, this book offers an in-depth investigation of the local-to-global dynamics of contemporary tourism. Each destination offers examples that illustrate how tour guide narratives and practices are informed by widely circulating imaginaries of the past as well as personal imaginings of the future.

Examining cultural heritage within the context of democracy Cultural heritage is a powerful tool in society, capable of producing both social harms as well as social goods and benefits, which can be distributed unevenly via political channels. Reaching across disciplines and national boundaries, this volume examines cultural heritage work within the context of both democratic institutions and democratic practices, including participatory, deliberative, and direct democratic practices. Case studies highlight how democratic politics and cultural heritage shape, impact, and depend upon one another. The rising crisis of democracy across the globe brings these dynamics into sharp relief. The unfinished and fragile nature of democratic politics shines a spotlight on both its shortcomings and its aspirational potential. This is a paradox that heritage practitioners and stakeholders navigate daily, serving as both critics and collaborators of democracy. At the same time that heritage practice embraces participatory approaches, it must also address the challenge of reconciling multiple, often unequal, and frequently incompatible claims for control over heritage. Grappling with democracy’s crises also increasingly means recognizing the power of heritage to reinforce or undermine democracy. These essays ask: What are the democratic motives of heritage practice? Why do democracies need heritage? How do the social and cultural referents of heritage infuse democratic practices? Emphasizing the interplay of heritage and democracy in practices and institutions across scales of governance, Heritage and Democracy pinpoints a dynamic that has not been widely examined. Contributors: Stacey L. Camp | Jon D. Daehnke | Kasey Diserens Morgan | Rachel Ama Asaa Engmann | Dorothy Ann Engmann | Bobbie Foster Bhusari | Peter G. Gould | Erin A. Hogg | Kathryn Lafrenz Samuels | Magda E. Mankel | Chelsea H. Meloche | George P. Nicholas | Ellen J. Platts | Jasmine Reid | Paul A. Shackel | John R. Welch A volume in the series Cultural Heritage Studies, edited by Paul A. Shackel

Heritage projects in the Arabian Peninsula are developing rapidly. Museums and heritage sites are symbols of shifting national identities, and a way of placing the Arabian Peninsula states on the international map. Global, i.e. Western, heritage standards and practices have been utilised for the rapid injection of heritage expertise in museum development and site management and for international recognition. The use of Western heritage models in the Arabian Peninsula inspires two key areas for research which this book examines: the obscuring of indigenous concepts and practices of heritage and expressions of cultural identity; and the tensions between local/community concepts of heritage and identity and the new national identities being constructed through museums and heritage sites at a state level.

Rethinking Heritage in Precarious Times sets a fresh agenda for Heritage Studies by reflecting upon the unprecedented nature of the contemporary moment. In doing so, the volume also calls into question established ideas, ways of working, and understandings of the future. Presenting contributions by leading figures in the field of Heritage Studies, Indigenous scholars, and scholars from across the global north and global south, the volume engages with the most pressing issues of today: coloniality, the climate emergency, the Covid-19 pandemic, structural racism, growing social and economic inequality, and the ongoing struggle for dignity and restitution.Considering the impact of climate change, chapters re-imagine museums for climate action, explore the notion of a world heritage for the Anthropocene, and reflect on heritage and posthumanism. Drawing inspiration from the global demonstrations against racism, police violence and authoritarianism, chapters explore the notion of a people’s heritage, draw on local and Indigenous conceptualizations to lay out a notion of heritage in the service of social justice and restitution, and detail the precariousness of universities and heritage institutions in the global south. Analysing the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, chapters also explore the changing nature of life under lockdown, describe its effects on theories of urbanity, and reflect on emergent Covid socialities and heritage-in-the-making. Rethinking Heritage in Precarious Times argues that we need the deep-time perspective that Heritage Studies offers, as well as its sense of transgenerational conversations and accountabilities, in order to respond to these many challenges—and to craft open, creative, and inclusive futures. It will be essential reading for academics and students engaged in the study of heritage, anthropology, memory, history, and geography.

This volume explores the process of heritage making and its relation to the production of touristic places, examining several case studies around the world. Most existing literature on heritage and tourism centers either on its managerial aspects, the tourist experience, or issues related to inequality and identity politics. This volume instead establishes theoretical links between analyses of heritage and the production and reproduction of places in the context of the global tourist trade. The approach adopted here is to explore the production of heritage as a complex process shaped by local and global discourses that can have a deep impact on several policies and legislations. Heritage itself has now become not only a global discourse, but also a global practice, which may eventually lead to the use of heritage as a field for hegemony. From these perspectives, heritage making may be incorporated in the world economy, mainly through the global tourism trade. The chapters in this book stress the need for identifying the intrinsic political implications of these processes, relocating their study in political, economic and social settings. Combined with a diversified set of theoretical approaches and research methods, guided by a common thematic rationale, The Making of Heritage is at the forefront of current debates about heritage.