Routledge Studies in Culture and Development – serie

Staging Indigenous Heritage examines the cultural politics of four Indigenous cultural villages in Malaysia. Demonstrating that such villages are often beset with the politics of brokerage and representation, the book shows that this reinforces a culture of dependency on the brokers.By critically examining the relationship between Indigenous tourism and development through the establishment of Indigenous cultural villages, the book addresses the complexities of adopting the ‘culture for development’ paradigm as a developmental strategy. Demonstrating that the opportunities for self-representation and self-determination can become entwined with the politics of brokerage and the contradictory dualism of culture, it becomes clear that this can both facilitate and compromise their intended outcomes. Challenging the simplistic conceptualisation of Indigenous communities as harmonious and unified wholes, the book shows how Indigenous cultures are actively forged, struggled over, and negotiated in contemporary Malaysia. Confronting the largely positive rhetoric in current discourses on the benefits of community-based cultural projects, Staging Indigenous Heritage should be essential reading for academics and students in the fields of museum studies, cultural heritage studies, Indigenous studies, development studies, tourism, anthropology, and geography. The book should also be of interest to museum and heritage professionals around the world.

Visual artists, craftspeople, musicians, and performers have been supported by the development community for at least twenty years, yet there has been little grounded and critical research into the practices and politics of that support. This new Routledge book remedies that omission and brings together varied perspectives from artists, policy-makers, and researchers working in the Pacific, Africa, Latin America, and Europe to explore the challenges and opportunities of supporting the arts in the development context. The book offers a series of grounded analyses which cover: strategies for the sustainability of arts enterprises; innovative evaluation methods; theoretical engagements with questions of art, agency, and social change; artists’ entanglements with legal and structural frameworks; processes of cultural mapping; and the artist/donor interface.The creative economy is increasingly recognized as a driver of development and this book also investigates the contribution made by the arts to the processes of international development, and considers how those processes can best be supported by development agencies. Contemporary Perspectives on Art and International Development gives scholars of Development Studies, Social and Cultural Geography, Anthropology, Cultural Policy, Cultural Studies, and Global Studies a contextually and thematically diverse range of insights into this emerging research field.

UNESCO aims to tackle Africa’s under-representation on its World Heritage List by inscribing instances of nineteenth- and twentieth-century modern architecture and urban planning there. But, what is one to make of the utopias of progress and development for which these buildings and sites stand? After all, concern for ‘modern heritage’ invariably—and paradoxically it seems—has to reckon with those utopias as problematic futures of the past, a circumstance complicating intentions to preserve a recent ‘culture’ of modernization on the African continent.This book, a new title in Routledge’s Studies in Culture and Development series, introduces the concept of ‘global heritage assemblages’ to analyse that problem. Based on extensive anthropological fieldwork, it describes how various governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental actors engage with colonial and post-colonial built heritage found in Eritrea, Tanzania, Niger, and the Republic of the Congo. Rausch argues that the global heritage assemblages emerging from those examples produce problematizations of the modern’, which ultimately indicate a contemporary need to rescue modernity from its dominant conception as an all-encompassing, epochal, and spatial culture.

China’s Route Heritage examines the creation, development and proliferation of the route heritage discourse of the Ancient Tea Horse Road (Chamagudao), in the People’s Republic of China.Examining the formation of the tea-horse road as a concept, its development as a platform for cultural branding, and its most recent interactions with the policy of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the revival of the discourse on the Silk Roads, the book demonstrates that the tea-horse road is an important part of the discourse on Chinese modernity. Describing the route heritage of the tea-horse road as a ‘mobility narrative’, whereby an ancient route is used to form a narrative of ethnic unity and cooperation, the book demonstrates that the study of such heritage offers unique insights into issues that are of concern to the wider field of critical heritage studies. Sigley also shows how the study of alternative route heritage enables us to gain a broader sense of route heritage discourse and its implications for the discussion of historical, present and future forms of mobility and connectivity within China and beyond its borders. China’s Route Heritage should be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students who are engaged in the study of heritage, China, the Silk Roads and the BRI, politics, international relations and tourism.

China’s Route Heritage examines the creation, development and proliferation of the route heritage discourse of the Ancient Tea Horse Road (Chamagudao), in the People’s Republic of China.Examining the formation of the tea-horse road as a concept, its development as a platform for cultural branding, and its most recent interactions with the policy of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the revival of the discourse on the Silk Roads, the book demonstrates that the tea-horse road is an important part of the discourse on Chinese modernity. Describing the route heritage of the tea-horse road as a ‘mobility narrative’, whereby an ancient route is used to form a narrative of ethnic unity and cooperation, the book demonstrates that the study of such heritage offers unique insights into issues that are of concern to the wider field of critical heritage studies. Sigley also shows how the study of alternative route heritage enables us to gain a broader sense of route heritage discourse and its implications for the discussion of historical, present and future forms of mobility and connectivity within China and beyond its borders. China’s Route Heritage should be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students who are engaged in the study of heritage, China, the Silk Roads and the BRI, politics, international relations and tourism.

Staging Indigenous Heritage examines the cultural politics of four Indigenous cultural villages in Malaysia. Demonstrating that such villages are often beset with the politics of brokerage and representation, the book shows that this reinforces a culture of dependency on the brokers.By critically examining the relationship between Indigenous tourism and development through the establishment of Indigenous cultural villages, the book addresses the complexities of adopting the ‘culture for development’ paradigm as a developmental strategy. Demonstrating that the opportunities for self-representation and self-determination can become entwined with the politics of brokerage and the contradictory dualism of culture, it becomes clear that this can both facilitate and compromise their intended outcomes. Challenging the simplistic conceptualisation of Indigenous communities as harmonious and unified wholes, the book shows how Indigenous cultures are actively forged, struggled over, and negotiated in contemporary Malaysia. Confronting the largely positive rhetoric in current discourses on the benefits of community-based cultural projects, Staging Indigenous Heritage should be essential reading for academics and students in the fields of museum studies, cultural heritage studies, Indigenous studies, development studies, tourism, anthropology, and geography. The book should also be of interest to museum and heritage professionals around the world.

The Cultural Turn in International Aid is one of the first volumes to analyse a wide and comprehensive range of issues related to culture and international aid in a critical and constructive manner. Assessing why international aid is provided for cultural projects, rather than for other causes, the book also considers whether and how donor funded cultural projects can address global challenges, including post-conflict recovery, building peace and security, strengthening resilience, or promoting human rights. With contributions from experts around the globe, this volume critically assesses the impact of international aid, including the diverse power relations and inequalities it creates, and the interests it serves at international, national and local levels. The book also considers projects that have failed and analyses the reasons for their failure, drawing out lessons learnt and considering what could be done better in the future. Contributors to the volume also consider the influence of donors in privileging some forms of culture over others, creating or maintaining specific memories, identities, and interpretations of history, and their reasons for doing so. These rich discussions are contextualised through a historical section, which considers the definitions, approaches and discourses related to culture and aid at international and regional levels. Providing consideration of manifold manifestations of culture, The Cultural Turn in International Aid will be of great interest to scholars, students and practitioners. It will be particularly useful for those engaged in the study of heritage, anthropology, international aid and development, international relations, humanitarian studies, community development, cultural studies, politics or sociology.

While many claims are made regarding the power of cultural heritage as a driver and enabler of sustainable development, the relationship between museums, heritage and development has received little academic scrutiny. This book stages a critical conversation between the interdisciplinary fields of museum studies, heritage studies and development studies to explore this under-researched sphere of development intervention. In an agenda-setting introduction, the editors explore the seemingly oppositional temporalities and values represented by these "past-making" and "future-making" projects, arguing that these provide a framework for mutual critique. Contributors to the volume bring insights from a wide range of academic and practitioner perspectives on a series of international case studies, which each raise challenging questions that reach beyond merely cultural concerns and fully engage with both the legacies of colonial power inequalities and the shifting geopolitical dynamics of contemporary international relations. Cultural heritage embodies different values and can be instrumentalized to serve different economic, social and political objectives within development contexts, but the past is also intrinsic to the present and is foundational to people’s aspirations for the future. Museums, Heritage and International Development explores the problematics as well as potentials, the politics as well as possibilities, in this fascinating nexus.

The Cultural Turn in International Aid is one of the first volumes to analyse a wide and comprehensive range of issues related to culture and international aid in a critical and constructive manner. Assessing why international aid is provided for cultural projects, rather than for other causes, the book also considers whether and how donor funded cultural projects can address global challenges, including post-conflict recovery, building peace and security, strengthening resilience, or promoting human rights. With contributions from experts around the globe, this volume critically assesses the impact of international aid, including the diverse power relations and inequalities it creates, and the interests it serves at international, national and local levels. The book also considers projects that have failed and analyses the reasons for their failure, drawing out lessons learnt and considering what could be done better in the future. Contributors to the volume also consider the influence of donors in privileging some forms of culture over others, creating or maintaining specific memories, identities, and interpretations of history, and their reasons for doing so. These rich discussions are contextualised through a historical section, which considers the definitions, approaches and discourses related to culture and aid at international and regional levels. Providing consideration of manifold manifestations of culture, The Cultural Turn in International Aid will be of great interest to scholars, students and practitioners. It will be particularly useful for those engaged in the study of heritage, anthropology, international aid and development, international relations, humanitarian studies, community development, cultural studies, politics or sociology.

Cultural Diplomacy and the Heritage of Empire analyzes the history of the negotiations that led to the atypical return of colonial-era cultural property from the Netherlands to Indonesia in the 1970s. By doing so, the book shows that competing visions of post-colonial redress were contested throughout the era of post-World War II decolonization.Considering the danger this precedent posed to other countries, the book looks beyond the Dutch-Indonesian case to the “Elgin (Parthenon) Marbles” and “Benin Bronzes” controversies, as well as recent developments relating to returns in France and the Netherlands. Setting aside the “universalism versus nationalism” debate, Scott asserts that the deeper meaning of post-colonial cultural property disputes in European history has more to do with how officials of former colonial powers negotiated decolonization, while also creating contemporary understandings of their nations’ pasts. As a whole, the book expands the field of cultural restitution studies and offers a more nuanced understanding of the connections drawn between postcolonial national identity making and the extension of cultural diplomacy.Cultural Diplomacy and the Heritage of Empire offers a new perspective on the international influence of the UNGA and UNESCO on the return debate. As such, the book will be of interest to scholars, students and practitioners engaged in the study of cultural property diplomacy and law, museum and heritage studies, modern European history, post-colonial studies and historical anthropology.

Cultural Diplomacy and the Heritage of Empire analyzes the history of the negotiations that led to the atypical return of colonial-era cultural property from the Netherlands to Indonesia in the 1970s. By doing so, the book shows that competing visions of post-colonial redress were contested throughout the era of post-World War II decolonization. Considering the danger this precedent posed to other countries, the book looks beyond the Dutch-Indonesian case to the “Elgin (Parthenon) Marbles” and “Benin Bronzes” controversies, as well as recent developments relating to returns in France and the Netherlands. Setting aside the “universalism versus nationalism” debate, Scott asserts that the deeper meaning of post-colonial cultural property disputes in European history has more to do with how officials of former colonial powers negotiated decolonization, while also creating contemporary understandings of their nations’ pasts. As a whole, the book expands the field of cultural restitution studies and offers a more nuanced understanding of the connections drawn between postcolonial national identity making and the extension of cultural diplomacy.Cultural Diplomacy and the Heritage of Empire offers a new perspective on the international influence of the UNGA and UNESCO on the return debate. As such, the book will be of interest to scholars, students and practitioners engaged in the study of cultural property diplomacy and law, museum and heritage studies, modern European history, post-colonial studies and historical anthropology.

A New Politics of Heritage Reconstruction in Afghanistan investigates the politics of cultural heritage preservation in Afghanistan between 2008 and 2015.Based on several periods of ethnographic fieldwork and the author’s direct employment on several internationally-sponsored heritage projects, this book studies the new and complex intersections between cultural heritage and politics in Afghanistan. Wyndham argues that a particular configuration of heritage and politics has emerged after the destruction of the Buddhas at Bamyan and demonstrates how the characteristics of this ‘post-Bamyan’ heritage paradigm are revealed through a number of case studies of internationally sponsored heritage work. These case studies reveal how politics and heritage are currently configured across a diverse range of governments, state and non-state actors, NGOs, individuals and forms of expertise—and why such intersections matter. The book responds to a call from across the discipline of Heritage Studies to look more closely at the relationships between heritage, power and politics.A New Politics of Heritage Reconstruction in Afghanistan provides a fascinating case study on the intersection of heritage and politics that will be of interest to students and scholars of heritage, as well as to professionals working on heritage preservation - both within and outside of government.

A New Politics of Heritage Reconstruction in Afghanistan investigates the politics of cultural heritage preservation in Afghanistan between 2008 and 2015.Based on several periods of ethnographic fieldwork and the author’s direct employment on several internationally-sponsored heritage projects, this book studies the new and complex intersections between cultural heritage and politics in Afghanistan. Wyndham argues that a particular configuration of heritage and politics has emerged after the destruction of the Buddhas at Bamyan and demonstrates how the characteristics of this ‘post-Bamyan’ heritage paradigm are revealed through a number of case studies of internationally sponsored heritage work. These case studies reveal how politics and heritage are currently configured across a diverse range of governments, state and non-state actors, NGOs, individuals and forms of expertise—and why such intersections matter. The book responds to a call from across the discipline of Heritage Studies to look more closely at the relationships between heritage, power and politics.A New Politics of Heritage Reconstruction in Afghanistan provides a fascinating case study on the intersection of heritage and politics that will be of interest to students and scholars of heritage, as well as to professionals working on heritage preservation - both within and outside of government.

Visual artists, craftspeople, musicians, and performers have been supported by the development community for at least twenty years, yet there has been little grounded and critical research into the practices and politics of that support. This new Routledge book remedies that omission and brings together varied perspectives from artists, policy-makers, and researchers working in the Pacific, Africa, Latin America, and Europe to explore the challenges and opportunities of supporting the arts in the development context. The book offers a series of grounded analyses which cover: strategies for the sustainability of arts enterprises; innovative evaluation methods; theoretical engagements with questions of art, agency, and social change; artists’ entanglements with legal and structural frameworks; processes of cultural mapping; and the artist/donor interface.The creative economy is increasingly recognized as a driver of development and this book also investigates the contribution made by the arts to the processes of international development, and considers how those processes can best be supported by development agencies. Contemporary Perspectives on Art and International Development gives scholars of Development Studies, Social and Cultural Geography, Anthropology, Cultural Policy, Cultural Studies, and Global Studies a contextually and thematically diverse range of insights into this emerging research field.

UNESCO aims to tackle Africa’s under-representation on its World Heritage List by inscribing instances of nineteenth- and twentieth-century modern architecture and urban planning there. But, what is one to make of the utopias of progress and development for which these buildings and sites stand? After all, concern for ‘modern heritage’ invariably—and paradoxically it seems—has to reckon with those utopias as problematic futures of the past, a circumstance complicating intentions to preserve a recent ‘culture’ of modernization on the African continent.This book, a new title in Routledge’s Studies in Culture and Development series, introduces the concept of ‘global heritage assemblages’ to analyse that problem. Based on extensive anthropological fieldwork, it describes how various governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental actors engage with colonial and post-colonial built heritage found in Eritrea, Tanzania, Niger, and the Republic of the Congo. Rausch argues that the global heritage assemblages emerging from those examples produce problematizations of the modern’, which ultimately indicate a contemporary need to rescue modernity from its dominant conception as an all-encompassing, epochal, and spatial culture.