Sustainable Development in Angkor

Abstract

This publication is the result of three years of research carried out as part of the Göttingen interdisciplinary DFG-research group on "The constitution of 'cultural property'; actors, discourses, contexts, and rules" (FOR 772) in Cambodia between 2008 and 2011. The title of the project was "Processes of constituting a 'World Heritage' and its meanings by the example of Angkor, Cambodia". The research took the transformation of culture that takes place when it is turned into property, and especially into "heritage", as a starting point (see, for example, Brown 2003, 2004). Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, as one of the pioneers of heritage studies, convincingly showed already in 1998 that heritage is a new mode of cultural production in the present that takes recourse to the past. Heritage is a value-added industry. Heritage produces the local for export […] Heritage tests the alienability of inalienable possessions.

Collective Action Dilemmas at Cultural Heritage Sites: An Application of the IAD-NAAS Framework

“…Local communities have been allowed to continue living within the landscape subject to restrictions imposed by the legal framework established to protect Angkor Archeological Park. 4 These laws authorized expropriation in the public interest and prohibited alteration or modification to structures without approval from local authorities in the core and buffer zones of the World Heritage site (Miura, 2011a;Winter, 2007). Despite their traditional presence in the area and being stewards of traditional agricultural and intangible heritage practices connected to Angkor temples, local residents persist as mere "authorized users" (Schlager & Ostrom, 1992) of Angkor resources.…”

“…However, the local tourism sector in AS3 opposed this policy proposal because it entailed more costs to adapt to the new tourism and visitor management system. At the same time, under this new policy, the local population in AS2, while obtaining some benefit from less tourist interference with religious and cultural practices, remained constrained by site conservation efforts aimed at preserving the "authenticity" of the cultural landscape and of old villages within the protected area (Miura, 2011a).…”

A dilemma of World Heritage ideals and challenges in Southeast Asia

“… 11 Miura 2004, 2010, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c, 2011d, 2015, 2016a, 2016b, 2018; Luco 2006, 2013; Vanna 2006; Butland 2012. …”