Post-conflict Heritage Reconstruction: Who Owns the Past?

Munawar, Nour A.

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-23383-8_6

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…An integrated approach to heritage as a form of post-conflict recovery must seek to balance rights and economic growth alongside social stability and urban regeneration. While scholars have stressed the importance of 'dynamic and ongoing' communal engagement to support heritage projects, there remains a lack of understanding of how sites intersect with collective memories (Munawar, 2023;Larkin and Rudolf 2023a), and how to reconcile the conflicting interests of 'heritage owners and conservators-restorers' (Hirsenberger et al, 2019: 217). The Moslawi case affirms recent research in BiH and Kosovo, which demonstrates the importance of anchoring heritage restoration in the work of local heritage actors, supporting their capacity for organic growth while recognising how 'presences and absences in the post-conflict landscape' impact 'processes of exclusion and inclusion' (Kappler and Selimovic, 2021: 3).…”

Section: Heritage Healing and Post-conflict Recoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Post-conflict heritage restoration projects stir heated debates over international funding and local agency; timing and sequencing; conservation or transformation; and the need for integration of cultural heritage into wider reconstruction policies (Isakhan and Meskell, 2023; Munawar, 2023; Barakat, 2021). Equally divisive is the dispute over heritage’s potential to contribute to post-war social cohesion and communal healing or conversely—its political malleability in enforcing structural inequalities and elite-driven agendas (Giblin, 2014; Matthews et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Iraqi heritage restoration, grassroots interventions and post-conflict recovery: reflections from Mosul

Larkin,

Rudolf

2023

Journal of Social Archaeology

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The deliberate targeting and violent destruction of cultural heritage in Iraq’s ancient city of Mosul by the Islamic State (2014–17) has recently given way to the emergence of heritage initiatives aimed at restoring its urban character and reviving its cosmopolitan spirit. Such restoration projects invariably stir debates over timing, funding and local consultation, as well as their potential to contribute to post-war social cohesion and communal healing. This article argues that in post-conflict settings heritage restoration is always an ambivalent and contingent process, involving the selective use of emotive historic symbols to create new realities. Based on 50 in-depth interviews with a diverse section of Moslawi society and site observations from Mosul (2022–23), the article explores local perspectives and the ongoing dynamic negotiation of heritage restoration. Amidst conflicting communal perceptions of large-scale internationally funded reconstruction projects, the article highlights the potential for grassroots heritage initiatives to offer a new impetus towards communal rehabilitation. The paper focuses on three less examined but locally championed Moslawi heritage sites—the souqs, Qila’yat district and heritage homes. These civic spaces may offer greater opportunity for social recovery through economic development, cultural exchange and everyday co-existence.

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Section: Heritage Healing and Post-conflict Recoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Iraqi heritage restoration, grassroots interventions and post-conflict recovery: reflections from Mosul

Larkin,

Rudolf

2023

Journal of Social Archaeology

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“…This special issue contributes towards a comparative knowledge base on the obstacles to and enablers of heritage reconstruction, management of cultural resources and recovery of societies in the post-conflict Arab region. 1 It builds upon the growing academic research agenda that has produced timely and thought-provoking debates on the future of heritage and culture in post-conflict societies in the region (see Gutbrod and Wood, 2023; Isakhan and Meskel, 2023; Khalaf, 2020; Matthews et al, 2020; Munawar and Symonds, 2022; Munawar, 2017, 2023b; Newson and Young, 2017; Žuljević and Carabelli, 2023). Articles in this special issue respond to the urgent need for a critical conversation about and interrogation of cultural heritage reconstruction and recovery in the Arab region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time to decolonise: ‘If not now’, then when?

Munawar

2024

Journal of Social Archaeology

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The introduction of this special issue not only underscores the significance of engaging local communities in the reconstruction of their heritage in post-conflict contexts; it also emphasises the necessity and importance of including local researchers from the affected area, in this case the Arab region, in producing knowledge about its rich past. This special issue contributes towards a comparative knowledge base on the obstacles to and enablers of heritage reconstruction, management of cultural resources and recovery of societies in the Arab region. This introductory piece starts with examining the impact of colonial and post-colonial regimes on producing knowledge about the past and how the latter regimes introduced societal elitism in studying the past. I argue that by giving a voice and a chance to local scholars and early career researchers coming from the studied regions (even if they are currently based abroad), we would be taking another step towards decolonising the past by empowering societies and producing local decolonial knowledge about the region’s iconic ruins. Allowing alternative forms of non-Eurocentric (culturally diverse) knowledge production about the past, primarily generated by local scholars, to be introduced, presented, published and promoted would render knowledge production authentic and simultaneously delink heritage from decades of knowledge coloniality.

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