Heritage Movements in Asia - (Explorations in Heritage Studies) by Ali Mozaffari & Tod Jones (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Heritage processes vary according to cultural, national, geographical, and historical contexts. This volume is unique in that it is dedicated to approaching the analysis of heritage through the concepts of social movements. Adapting the latest developments in the field of social movements, the chapters examine the formation, use and contestation of heritage by various official, non-official and activist players and the spaces where such ongoing negotiations and contestation take place. By bringing social movements into heritage studies, the book advocates a shift of perspective in understanding heritage, one that is no longer bound by (at times arbitrary) divisions such as those assumed between the state and people or between experts and non-experts.

Review Quotes

"Throughout the text, authors marvelously highlight unique cases, backed by compelling evidence, that portray a well-rounded story of heritage activism across countries such as Indonesia, China, Singapore, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Iran. Libraries with extensive reserves focusing on Asian heritage, culture, and politics should have a copy of this work. - Highly Recommended." - Choice

"In general, this book highlights the need to question generalizing ideas about heritage. It props up the various ways in which we can counter the assimilationist emphasis of most state-sanctioned heritage policies. With an overtly structural approach, the chapters present translational applications to real-world problems." - International Journal of Asian Studies (IJAS)

"This book significantly contributes to our understanding of the complexities of heritage in Asia. It broadens our horizons to look at issues of governance, state-society relations, and the institutional ways memory and material culture are politically negotiated. It reveals heritage as a series of movements, unpacking, elaborating and critiquing what that term means in different social settings. An exciting contribution to the examination of heritage in Asia." - Tim Winter, University of Western Australia, Professor of Critical Heritage studies, Author of Geocultural Power: China's Quest to Revive the Silk Roads for the Twenty First Century

"The book is a wake-up call for heritage practitioners who still too easily think of the material past as a static and unmediated record of times past. Heritage Movements in Asia reminds us that the heritage expert is only one among numerous players competing to inscribe meaning on the traces of the past embedded in the ground we all live on. As this book vividly illustrates, heritage activism, whether in the form of mass mobilisation or more intimate engagements, is what gives the material past its dynamism." - Denis Byrne, Author of Counterheritage: Critical Perspectives on Heritage Conservation in Asia

"Looking at heritage processes through the lens of social movements, this volume adds a meaningful contribution to the growing literature of critical heritage studies." - Neel Kamal Chapagain, Director of the Centre for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad University

"The manuscript fits well within the framework of collected essays on various aspects of heritage which have made recent appearance on themes such as contested and dissonant heritage, the impact of globalization upon multicultural societies and the increasing role of social media in mobilizing identity." - Brian J. Shaw, School of Earth & Environment (Retired)

About the Author

Tod Jones is an Associate Professor in Geography in the School of Design and Built Environment at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. Jones's research interests are cultural and political geographies in Australia and Indonesia, in particular bringing contemporary geography approaches to cultural economy and heritage issues. His current projects are on Indigenous heritage and urban planning, social movements and heritage, and applying a sustainable livelihoods approach to assess heritage initiatives. His most recent book is Culture, Power, and Authoritarianism in the Indonesian State. Cultural Policy across the Twentieth Century to the Reform Era (Brill 2013).