Border Heritage

Victor Konrad is Director of NorthWing Consulting, and Adjunct Research Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Canada. He was formerly Director of the Canadian-American Center at the University of Maine, USA, and founding Director of the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program. Dr. Konrad’s recent books include Border Culture: Theory, Imagination, Geopolitics (Routledge 2023), Borders, Culture, and Globalization (2021), North American Borders in Comparative Perspective (2020), and Beyond Walls: Re-inventing the Canada-United States Borderlands (2008).

"Drawing examples from across the globe, Victor Konrad provides an important insight into how borders and border regions are transformed into heritage, and the long term impact of border heritage upon both local and global communities. Visiting, and crossing, the border becomes a celebration of difference as we ponder the long term impact of artificial lines drawn and imposed upon the landscape by governments and regimes. Konrad’s book constitutes a welcome addition to the border literature, and also opens many avenues for further exploration and research by the next generation of border scholars."David Newman, Professor, Ben-Gurion University, Israel."Finally, a groundbreaking treatise on the multidimensional and complex heritage of borders: Konrad expertly analyzes the heritage narratives of borders, shedding light on border culture(s), heritagization processes, memory-making and memorialization, exclusion and inclusion, and multitudes of other cutting-edge concepts that explain the past and present geopolitics of border spaces and places. A pure pleasure to read!" Dallen J. Timothy, Professor, Arizona State University, USA."This comprehensive study of border heritage enriches our understanding of the multiple temporalities of contemporary borders, as well as the enduring traces of ancient and colonial borders. Its timelessness cannot be overstated, as the question of border heritage has arguably never been more prominent globally than it is today."Eeva-Kaisa Prokkola, Professor, University of Oulu, Finland."In Border Heritage, Victor Konrad expertly blends theory and case studies to examine several themes including the geopolitics of heritage border tourism and the operation of heritage as a bordering process. In doing so, the book serves as an indispensible blueprint for border heritage studies. Highly recommended for border and heritage scholars."Randy Widdis, Professor, University of Regina, Canada."Border Heritage is one of the first monographs guiding readers through the full-scale complexities of border heritage and border memorialization processes in their relation to spatial politics. Konrad is a gifted writer who masterfully weaves important and gripping bordering heritage stories into academic debates on the geopolitics of heritage-making and memorialization. A delightful must-read for anyone interested in the geopolitics of border temporalities."Dorte Jagetic Andersen, Professor, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark. "Border Heritage powerfully situates Asian borderlands within the global conversation on memory, heritage, and geopolitics, showing how being and belonging in-between are made and contested at diverse sites from the upper Mekong to the Korean DMZ. This book is a major contribution to critical border and heritage studies."Po-Yi Hung, Professor, National Taiwan University, Taiwan.

• 1: A Heritage of Borders and the Bordering of Heritage 2: Theory of Borders and Heritage 3. Border Heritage: Geopolitics and the Dilemma of Exclusion / Inclusion 4. Globalization and Post-Globalization: Cycles and Rhythms in Border Heritage 5. Critical Heritage Theory and the Agenda for Border Wall Studies: Attraction, Valuation, Significance 6. Border Memory to Border Memorialization: Time into Place 7. Border Heritage Tourism 8. Post-Colonial Border Heritage 9. Border Heritage Cultures and the Continuing Politics of Legacy