Theme:
3. Sustainable archaeology and heritage in an unsustainable world
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Rooted Cosmopolitanism: Towards a Glocalization of Heritage and Heritage Practices?
Content:
Many concepts of present-day heritage discourses - such as world heritage, local heritage practices or indigenous heritage - show a tendency to ignore the complex interplay between the local and the global. However, no human group ever creates more than a part of its heritage by itself. To address this paradox this session explores the idea of Rooted Cosmopolitanism. This concept emphasizes the fact that, in localities all over the world, cultural heritage is always in the process of becoming and that these local processes are inherently shaped by global connections. Rooted Cosmopolitanism emanates from local settings and practices (it is rooted) while at the same time it moves beyond the essentialism of cultural diversity (it is cosmopolitan). As such the concept might well be capable to critically reflect on the ideological dichotomy between globalization and isolation that characterizes our current political climate and strongly influences Heritage practices in nation-states worldwide.
We invite contributors to tackle these questions both from a theoretical perspective and by means of a bottom-up approach. What do we mean by that? More and more, archaeological interpretations of the past show that Globalisation is indeed a very deep historical process. All the objects, assemblages, monuments and sites we excavate, document and preserve, therefore, are inherently cosmopolitan in nature. This characteristic, however, often sits uncomfortably with the discourse and Heritage practices of nation-states in which this work takes place. We know that the solution of nation-states to this problem is forgetting, or rather selective remembering. But can the concept of Rooted Cosmopolitanism be a more productive solution to this problem, also for nation-states? We invite contributors to present their experiences concerning the exploration of a global past in local present and to explore the concept of Rooted Cosmopolitanism as a possible solution to this paradox.
Keywords:
Rooted Cosmopolitanism, Globalisation, Glocalisation, Heritage
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Miguel John Versluys (Netherlands) 1
Co-organisers:
Ian Lilley (Australia) 2
Affiliations:
1. Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology
2. The University of Queensland
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