Robert J. Shepherd – författare

How and why do some places in the world become symbols of illusive paradise, and what does this mean for their residents? Moving between anthropology, tourism, and the increasingly influential cultural heritage movement, Partners in Paradise examines the origins of a Euro-American fascination with places imagined to exist outside of Modernity. Focusing on the emergence of Tibet and Bali as, in turn, anthropological field sites, tourist destinations, and cultural heritage sites, it argues that the work of academic researchers, tourists, and cultural preservationists inform and constitute each other, in the process constructing particular places as «paradise». Unpacking this process is a necessary first step in understanding how Tibetans and Balinese negotiate their place in a modern world in which the meaning of «paradise» is contested. Drawing on anthropology, history, and tourist studies, Partners in Paradise offers a unique lens on the politics of development, modernization, and cultural preservation.

​This monograph analyzes current cultural resource management, archeological heritage management, and exhibitionary practices and policies in the People’s Republic of China. Academic researchers, preservationists, and other interested parties face a range of challenges for the preservation of the material past as rapid economic and social changes continue in China.   On the one hand, state-supported development policies often threaten and in some cases lead to the destruction of archeological and cultural sites. Yet state cultural policies also encourage the cultivation of precisely such sites as tourism development resources. This monograph aims to bring the concepts of world heritage sites, national tourism policies, ethnic tourism, and museum display together for a general cultural heritage audience. It focuses on a central issue: the tensions between a wide range of interest groups:  cultural anthropologists and archeologists, tourism officials, heritage proponents, economic development proponents, a new class of private rich with the means to buy artifacts, and a fragmented regulatory system. Behind all of them lies the political role of heritage in China, also addressed in this monograph.

Using the example of China’s Wutai Shan—recently designated both a UNESCO World Heritage site and a national park—Robert J. Shepherd analyzes Chinese applications of western notions of heritage management within a non-western framework. What does the concept of world heritage mean for a site practically unheard of outside of China, visited almost exclusively by Buddhist religious pilgrims? What does heritage preservation mean for a site whose intrinsic value isn’t in its historic buildings or cultural significance, but for its sacredness within the Buddhist faith? How does a society navigate these issues, particularly one where open religious expression has only recently become acceptable? These questions and more are explored in this book, perfect for students and practitioners of heritage management looking for a new perspective.