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Adam Claasen, John Griffiths - Monuments of Meaning, Inbunden

Inbunden, Engelska, 2027

Monuments of Meaning

Power, Protest, and Public Memory in Aotearoa New Zealand

Av Adam Claasen, John Griffiths

Del i serien Global Perspectives on Public History

2527 kr

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Beskrivning
Monuments of Meaning brings together a diverse interdisciplinary team of contributors to explore and analyze the ‘Statue Wars’ of contested monuments and place names in Aotearoa, New Zealand.In the wake of renewed global attention to colonial history sparked by Black Lives Matter, statues and place names became focal points for national debate. The 2020 Hamilton protests, part of the local ‘statue wars,’ highlighted deep divisions over Captain John Hamilton: admired by some as a noble namesake, yet condemned by many Māori as a symbol of colonial violence and Crown expansion. Following protests and a request from Waikato-Tainui, the statue was removed, reigniting conversations about restoring the city’s original name, Kirikiriroa, and reconsidering street names associated with figures such as John Bryce and Gustavus von Tempsky. Yet Hamilton was only the latest chapter in a longer history of contested monuments and places. Across Aotearoa New Zealand, European explorers, settlers, and imperial figures were commemorated in statues, streets, lakes, schools, and institutions, often marginalising Māori heritage. This volume brings together contributors from Māori history, town planning, church history, feminist studies, environmental planning, human rights advocacy, the arts, imperial history, and military history to examine the ways communities reject, accommodate, reconfigure or celebrate the nation’s monuments.This book will be of interests to students and researchers of colonial and postcolonial history, cultural studies, and New Zealand history.
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Adam Claasen is a Senior Lecturer and historian at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand, specializing in war and society studies and Aotearoa New Zealand’s military experience. A Smithsonian Fellowship grantee and Fulbright awardee, his most recent publication is Grid: The life and times of fighter ace Keith Caldwell (2024).John Griffiths is Academic Mentor/Student Success Tutor at the London College of Contemporary Arts, United Kingdom. He spent over twenty years as Lecturer/Senior Lecturer at Massey University. He is author of Imperial Culture in Antipodean Cities 1880–1914 (2014). Empire and Popular Culture (Routledge 4 vols, 2021–22) and articles that have appeared in journals such as Social History, Urban History and Imperial and Commonwealth History. He lives in London and Suffolk.

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“This is a remarkably rich and fascinating edited volume that brings together a diverse range of histories on memory, place, and identity across Aotearoa New Zealand. Across the chapters, the book demonstrates an impressive ability to uncover contested histories while offering thoughtful, creative, and often moving approaches to remembrance and re‑narration.”Brad Beaven, Professor of Social and Cultural History, University of Portsmouth“This timely and thoughtful collection considers the complex history of public memorials, statues and place names in Aotearoa New Zealand. Drawing on case studies and multidisciplinary perspectives, its authors explore the meaning of these often-contested sites of memory and show how communities continue to debate and challenge their connections to our colonial past.”Neill Atkinson, Chief Historian, Manatū Taonga – Ministry for Culture and Heritage“In 2020, when the statue of Edward Colston was thrown into Bristol Harbour it drew attention to the role of monuments in how we remember and debate the past. This valuable book explores the contested nature of monuments in Aotearoa, New Zealand: what they reveal about our interpretation of the past at different times, and how this informs our understanding of the present. It encourages a historically rooted reconsideration of how we engage with the past in the world surrounding us.”Michael Belgrave, Emeritus Professor - History, Massey University

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