1st Edition
Rooted Cosmopolitanism, Heritage and the Question of Belonging Archaeological and Anthropological perspectives
This book explores the analytical and practical value of the notion of "rooted cosmopolitanism" for the field of cultural heritage.
Many concepts of present-day heritage discourses - such as World Heritage, local heritage practices, or indigenous heritage - tend to elide the complex interplay between the local and the global - entanglements that are investigated as "glocalisation" in Globalisation Studies. However, no human group ever creates more than a part of its heritage by itself. This book explores an exciting new alternative in scholarly (critical) heritage discourse, the notion of rooted cosmopolitanism, a way of making manifestations of globalised phenomena comprehensible and relevant at local levels. It develops a critical perspective on heritage and heritage practices, bringing together a highly varied yet conceptually focused set of stimulating contributions by senior and emerging scholars working on the heritage of localities across the globe. A contextualising introduction is followed by three strongly theoretical and methodological chapters which complement the second part of the book, six concrete, empirical chapters written in "response" to the more theoretical chapters. Two final reflective conclusions bring together these different levels of analysis.
This book will appeal primarily to archaeologists, anthropologists, heritage professionals, and museum curators who are ready to be confronted with innovative and exciting new approaches to the complexities of cultural heritage in a globalising world.
Part 1 Introduction and theoretical perspectives
1. 1. Rooted Cosmopolitanism, Heritage and the Question of Belonging
Miguel John Versluys & Ian Lilley
2. 2. From the Root of Cosmopolitanism to Rootless Parasites. The Politics and normative Complexities of Rooted Cosmopolitanism
Marianna Papastephanou
3. 3. Collaborative Archaeology as Rooted Cosmopolitanism?
Alexander Geurds
4. 4. Globalisation, ancient Cosmopolitanism and the Western Bollywood
Ljuben Tevdovski
Part 2 Case Studies
5. 5. Local Pasts, Global Presents? Rooted Cosmopolitanism and (the Future of) Pelota Mixteca
Martin E. Berger
6.6. Rooted Cosmopolitanism in Southeast Türkiye? Contemporary Responses to Nemrut Dağı and ancient Commagene
Lennart W. Kruijer & Miguel John Versluys
7. 7. Karian Cosmopolitanism. Archaeology, Heritage, and Identity in Southwestern Türkiye
Troels Myrup Kristensen, Vinnie Nørskov & Gönül Bozoğlu
8. 8. The Locality of a Cosmopolitan Claim Revisited: Heritage of State Violence and Its Local Embeddedness on Green Island (Taiwan)
Fang-I-Chu
9. 9. What have the Romans ever done for us? Towards a Relational Mnemohistory
Miguel John Versluys
10 10. From Exported Modernism to Rooted Cosmopolitanism. Middle East Architecture between Socialism and Capitalism
Asma Mehan
Part 3 Conclusions
11 11. Beyond the Local and the Global
Erik de Maaker
1212. The Road to Anywhere: rooted cosmopolitanism in the universe
Cornelius Holtorf
Biography
Lennart Wouter Kruijer is Lecturer in Ancient Visual and Material Culture at the Department of Classics, Ancient History, Religion and Theology of Exeter University. He previously held an ANAMED postdoctoral fellowship at Koç University. He obtained his PhD from Leiden University, which is the basis of his 2024 book The Palace of Samosata: Objectscapes, Ancient Globalization and Cultural Transformation in Commagene (4th c. BCE—1st c. CE) (Asia Minor Studien, Habelt Verlag).
Miguel John Versluys is Full Professor and Chair of Classical and Mediterranean Archaeology at Leiden University and a member of the Academia Europaea as well as the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). His research focuses on the cultural dynamics that characterise the global ancient world. He actively engages with the presence of the past and the importance of deep history for our contemporary world and its future. Between 2016 and 2022, he directed the NWO VICI project Innovating Objects.
Ian Lilley has worked in Australasian and Indo-Pacific archaeology and heritage for over 45 years. He is Professor Emeritus in the University of Queensland School of Social Science and was also inaugural Willem Willems Chair in the Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University, 2015–2022. Ian is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Australian Academy of Humanities. He has held visiting positions around the globe, most recently at the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut in Berlin. He has won numerous Australian Research Council and other national and international grants for archaeological research. He also has extensive experience with Australian and international heritage issues, from local to World Heritage level.
An important intervention in both archaeology and heritage studies, the contributors of this volume bring a global perspective to the classic theme of cosmopolitanism. Drawing from different disciplines and international case studies, this book makes a significant contribution beyond method & theory and offers new insights on globalization, nationalism, religion, and the ethics of belonging.
- Lynn Meskell, Professor of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania & AD White Professor-at-Large, Cornell University
