A Common Cultural Heritage


Book Description

Contains six essays on Near Eastern and biblical law, as well as essays on biblical and Mesopotamian literature, history, religion, divination, slavery, and art.




Communities and Cultural Heritage


Book Description

Communities and Cultural Heritage explores the relationship between communities, their cultural heritage and the global forces that control most of the world’s wealth and resources in today’s world. Bringing together scholars and heritage practitioners from nine countries, this book contributes to the ongoing dialogue on community heritage by analysing impediments to full community participation. The underminin of local communities comes at a high price. As the chapters in this book demonstrate, the knowledge embedded within traditional and Indigenous heritage creates communities that are more resilient to environmental and social stressors and more responsive to contemporary challenges such as climate change, environmental degradation, post-disaster recovery and relocation. Cultural heritage practices often fail to capitalise upon local knowledge and traditional skills and undervalue the potential contribution of local communities in finding creative and resourceful solutions to the issues they are confronting. Arguing that the creation of successful community heritage project requires ongoing reflection on the aims, methods, financing and acceptable outcomes of projects, the volume also demonstrates that the decolonization of Western-focussed heritage practices is an ongoing process, by which subaltern groups are brought forward and given a space in the heritage narrative. Reflecting on trends that impact communities and heritage sites across different geographical regions, Communities and Cultural Heritage will be of interest to academics, students and practitioners of cultural heritage,archaeology and anthropology around the world.




Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites on the Moon


Book Description

This book provides an extensive overview of the protection of cultural heritages sites on the Moon (humanity’s lunar heritage) and the various threats they face. First of all, the international legal framework, especially the relevant space treaties are analyzed in terms of how they protect cultural heritages sites on the Moon. In turn, the book explores key aspects like the application of customary law, the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, or the Underwater Convention, and the possibility of adding these sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage list. The book subsequently addresses the question of how to define culture heritage sites or artifacts, in particular in view of the “Outstanding Universal Value” criterion, which is a vital aspect in order to differentiate them from space garbage or even space threats. Lastly, the book proposes and elaborates on various protection systems and multilateral protection regulations. Especially now, 50 years after the first human landing on the Moon, the book is a timely publication that will be of interest to all scholars and professionals working in the space field.




Cultural Heritage, Creativity and Economic Development


Book Description

The book explores the relationship between cultural heritage and local economic development by introducing the original idea that one possible mediator between the two can be identified as creativity. The book econometrically verifies this idea and demonstrates that cultural heritage, through its inspirational role on different creative talents, generates an indirect positive effect on local economic development. These results justify important new policy recommendations in the field of cultural heritage.




Cultural Heritage in the European Union


Book Description

Cultural Heritage in the European Union provides a critical analysis of the laws and policies which address cultural heritage throughout Europe, considering them in light of the current challenges faced by the Union. The volume examines the matrix of organisational and regulatory frameworks concerned with cultural heritage both in the Union and its Members States, as well as their interaction, cross-fertilisation, and possible overlaps. It brings together experts in their respective fields, including not only legal, but also cultural economists, heritage professionals, government representatives, and historians. The diverse backgrounds of the authors offer a cross-disciplinary approach and a variety of views which allows an in-depth scrutinisation of the latest developments pertaining to cultural heritage in Europe.




Non-State Actors in the Protection of Cultural Heritage


Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive overview of international cultural heritage law from the perspectives of non-state actors (NSAs). In keeping with the significant developments concerning the status and roles of NSAs in international law over the last century, NSAs such as communities, experts, NGOs, and international organizations have become important participants in the implementation of international cultural heritage conventions. Indeed, due to the emergence of new ideas on common heritage and cultural rights in the 20th century, international cultural heritage law has become inconsistent with States’ claim to sole authority regarding the protection of cultural heritage. The author analyzes the texts of international cultural heritage conventions, as well as their operational texts, to track essential changes in the rights, obligations, and roles of NSAs since the mid-20th century. Practical cases on the status and roles of NSAs are introduced to glean empirical ideas and facilitate an in-depth understanding of their effectiveness. The analysis reveals that NSAs do have certain rights and responsibilities concerning the implementation of cultural heritage conventions, and their roles have been increasingly recognized. At the same time, however, discrepancies between text and practice can be observed when it comes to the status and roles of NSAs. They have emerged for various reasons, one of which is the politicization of conventions’ governance. Adopting the standpoint of the NSAs, the book emphasizes the need to explore innovative and practical mechanisms that will allow NSAs to attain their proper status and take on practical roles under international cultural heritage law, which will in turn ensure the sustainable protection of cultural heritage. This message becomes more pertinent to the current conflicts where various tensions between states and NSAs have arisen and the roles of NSAs have become more important.Given its scope, the book will be of special interest to students, researchers and professionals at government and non-government organizations in the fields of heritage, the arts, law, administration, and development.




The Past is a Foreign Country


Book Description

Lowentahal looks at the benefits and burdens of the past, how we study the past, and how we change it.




The Nature of Cultural Heritage, and the Culture of Natural Heritage


Book Description

The idea that the heritage of nature is fundamentally cultural is provocative to many, but it is becoming increasingly accepted in the context of heritage preservation. It is argued here that a person’s perspective on natural vs. cultural heritage as a contested patrimony is, to some extent, governed by one’s intellectual and geographical position. In discourses influenced by the natural sciences culture is a heritage of nature, whereas in those deriving from the humanities and social sciences, nature is defined socio-culturally. There is also, however, a geographical dimension to how one looks at the nature culture relation. From at least the time of Aristotle, the North has been identified with a cultural heritage thought to derive from the northern natural environment. It was no longer culture, as represented by the architectural monuments of the South, but the natural landscape that provided the measure for both natural and cultural heritage, as the natural landscape and its ecosystems were put in focus. This essay provides a contemporary picture of the long-standing contestation between natural and cultural heritage that provided the basis for the northern perspective taken in these essays. This book was previously published as a special issue of The International Journal of Heritage Studies.




European Cultural Heritage


Book Description




Cultural Networks in Migrating Heritage


Book Description

This book is a study of the role of cultural and heritage networks and how they can help institutions and their host societies manage the tensions and realise the opportunities arising from migration. In looking at past and emerging challenges of social inclusion and cultural dialogue, hybrid models of cultural identity, citizenship and national belonging, the study also sets out to answer the questions 'how'. How can cultural institutions leverage the power of cross-border networks in a contested place such as Europe today? How could they elaborate approaches and strategies based on cultural practices? How can the actions of the European Commission and relevant cultural bodies be strengthened, adapted or extended to meet these goals? Cultural Networks in Migrating Heritage will be of interest to scholars and students in museum and cultural heritage studies, visual arts, sociology of organisations and information studies. It will also be relevant to practitioners and policymakers from museums, libraries, NGOs and cultural institutions at large.