Contested Places

Historians have always been studying contested places. Most studies of empires, ancient civilisations and cultures, of nation states, wars and diplomatic relations involve conflicts about territory in one way or another. However, it is only within the last 10-15 years that place has been integrated in historical studies as a theoretical and analytical concept. This volume offers 12 chapters written by academic staff from the History Department at the University of Southern Denmark which contribute to an increased theoretical and methodological consciousness of place as a concept and as an analytical tool within historical studies. The chapters cover historical epochs reaching from a study of the battle of Thermopylae in ancient Greece to a study of the contemporary debate surrounding Ground Zero in New York. The volume may be used as a text book in university courses dealing with territorial, cultural and national interconnectedness and globalisation in both a historical and a contemporary perspective.