Heritage and Transnationalism Network (HTN)

 

Description:

The Heritage, and Transnationalism Network (HTN) within the Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS) seeks to expand our understanding of heritage (understood in both tangible and intangible forms) as it intersects with international relations, geography, geopolitics, public diplomacy, statecraft, diaspora studies, and borders, borderlands, and cross-roads studies.

 

Aims and objectives:

The network explores critical questions including:

  1. The impact of heritage on human movements and displacements, both voluntary (such as migration) and forced (such as refugee movements);

  2.  The role of heritage in international relations, cultural and public diplomacy;

  3. The deployment by international actors of heritage in discourses of civilization and multi-polar world;

  4. The constitution of heritage transnationally and its implications, including the role of transnational and intergovernmental actors (such as UNESCO) in that regard;

  5. The use of heritage in projections of political authority and in times of conflict and war, together with peacebuilding possibilities of heritage.

 

Long-term Goals:

Facilitate dynamic debates and the incubation of innovative ideas within the field of heritage studies.

Facilitate and initiate new collaborations and professional connections both within and outside ACHS.

Support the development and dissemination of academic work through collaborative grants, publications, and conferences. In this respect, the series ‘Explorations in Heritage Studies’ will, when appropriate, provide a supportive outlet for related activities.  

Enhance the interdisciplinary dialogue among scholars and enrich the understanding of heritage in a global context.

 

Mandate:

To serve as a platform for scholarly exchange and collaboration focused on the critical evaluation of heritage in the context of human movements, imaginations of borders, global geopolitics and transnational interactions. It aims to initiate and support research that addresses both theoretical and applied aspects of heritage, facilitating a deeper understanding of its role in shaping, and being shaped by, human agency, international agendas, and diplomatic engagements.

Contact:

For more information about the network, please contact Ali Mozaffari at heritageinwestasia@gmail.com  and/or David C. Harvey at david.harvey@cas.au.dk