UNESCO, world heritage and the gridlock over Yemen

Meskell, Lynn; Isakhan, Benjamin

doi:10.1080/01436597.2020.1784000

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…A key component of UNESCO’s mission – especially since the 1972 World Heritage Convention came into force (UNESCO, 1972) – has been to preserve, protect and reconstruct heritage sites of ‘outstanding universal value’ in the belief that doing so will promote mutual understanding between different communities and bring peace to war torn societies (Meskell, 2018). However, UNESCO’s capacity to be effective in preserving or reconstructing heritage has become increasingly mired in the complex bureaucratic machinery of global consensus-making and the extent to which debates over heritage have become a proxy for the broader geopolitical agendas of Member States (Bertacchini et al, 2016; Meskell and Isakhan, 2020).…”

Section: Heritage Politics and Peacementioning

confidence: 99%

Problematizing norms of heritage and peace: Militia mobilization and violence in Iraq

Isakhan¹,

Akbar²

2022

Cooperation and Conflict

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The destruction of heritage in conflict has emerged as a key challenge to global security and the prospects of peace. In response to the deliberate targeting of heritage sites by the Islamic State (IS) and other actors in recent years, the international community has launched a number of initiatives designed to protect and reconstruct key heritage sites in complex (post-)conflict contexts. However, this article demonstrates that such initiatives are often underpinned by the norm that the protection of heritage in conflict can serve to enhance the prospects of reconciliation, stability and peace. This article problematizes this norm by focussing on the case study of Shia responses to the targeting of their religious heritage sites by the IS in Iraq from mid-2014. It documents the ways that key Shia leaders instrumentalized the case of protecting heritage not to advance peace and security, but to create entirely new militias, to recruit thousands of Shia faithful, to mobilize them to fight against the IS, and to engage in violence and human rights abuses. This raises significant concerns about whether the promotion of heritage as a pathway to peace could inadvertently exacerbate conflict and lead to renewed waves of violence and heritage destruction.

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Section: Heritage Politics and Peacementioning

confidence: 99%

Problematizing norms of heritage and peace: Militia mobilization and violence in Iraq

Isakhan¹,

Akbar²

2022

Cooperation and Conflict

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“…Such circumstances are not so "exceptional" anymore, as noted in the Operational Guidelines [3] (paragraph 86), given that climate change, conflicts, disasters, COVID-19, and other factors/threats such as incompatible new development projects [79] are increasingly affecting World Heritage properties at an unprecedented global scale. A recent example is the Old City of Sana'a, a World Heritage property in Yemen, where a combination of factors, including war, heavy rains, floods, neglect, and poverty, has left the city in a devastated condition [80,81]. It is time to move beyond the assessment of authenticity and to adopt more useful concepts not only to support the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, but also to meet contemporary challenges and needs, including the need to BBB and to achieve SDGs for the benefit of present and future generations.…”

Section: Achieving Sustainable Development Goalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, scholars have shown that both the Venice Charter and the Nara Document are far from perfect [33,34] and do not actually define "authenticity". The Operational Guidelines do not pin down what this term means either despite the many paragraphs dedicated to it [3] (paragraphs [79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

World Heritage on the Move: Abandoning the Assessment of Authenticity to Meet the Challenges of the Twenty-First Century

Khalaf¹

2021

Heritage

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At a time when climate change, conflicts, disasters, and other global crises and challenges are increasingly affecting World Heritage properties, the utility of conservation assessment standards must be rethought. This article proposes abandoning the assessment of authenticity to treat properties less as “things”, deemed authentic or not, and more as evolving “processes” that embrace continuity and compatible change, which, it is argued, helps meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, namely climate change mitigation and adaptation; building back better after conflicts, disasters, or pandemics; and, ultimately, achieving sustainable development goals. Drawing on policy analysis and a wide range of literature, the article explains why authenticity is not a useful concept and why the idea of “heritage as process” is more relevant to the contemporary world. It shows how this idea can be put into effect and linked to Outstanding Universal Value, integrity, protection and management, which are already requirements in UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. In doing so, it contributes to aligning the implementation of the Convention with that of the global agendas of our time.

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“…The second issue is UNESCO's failure to fulfill its own priority programs 6 International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas Foundation, https://www.aliph-founda tion.org/en/our-ambition (accessed 1 July 2021). See Isakhan and Meskell 2019;Meskell and Isakhan 2020; see also "UAE and France Reunited for the Establishment of the International Alliance for Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas," PR Newswire, 21 March 2017, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/uae-and-france-reunite-forthe-establishment-of-the-international-alliance-for-protection-of-heritage-in-conflict-areas-616688814.html (accessed 1 July 2021). 7 Meskell 2013;Brown 2015.…”

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confidence: 99%

“… 6 International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas Foundation, (accessed 1 July 2021). See Isakhan and Meskell 2019; Meskell and Isakhan 2020; see also “UAE and France Reunited for the Establishment of the International Alliance for Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas,” PR Newswire , 21 March 2017, (accessed 1 July 2021). …”

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confidence: 99%

The world is not enough: New diplomacy and dilemmas for the World Heritage Convention at 50

Meskell

Liuzza²

2022

Int J Cult Prop

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In this article, we reflect on the current socio-political context of the 1972 World Heritage Convention after 50 years rather than its significant achievements and trials throughout its turbulent history. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has already documented and publicized these formative episodes. Instead, we consider the World Heritage milieu today, embedded as it is within a much broader landscape of non-governmental organizations and civil society preservation initiatives than it was five decades ago. Like other United Nations agencies, UNESCO now faces challenges arising from various types of re-spatialization beyond the nation-state that further impact its effectiveness. Those challenges encompass not only the expansive force of globalization but also regionalization and localization, all of which have given rise to a new diplomacy. We discuss the proliferation of competing international agencies and individual donors, then describe the dilemmas facing World Heritage, including the rise of non-state actors and post-conflict remediation in the Middle East, the limited recognition of Indigenous Peoples and their role in decision making, and the persistent failures to remedy the inequitable position of Africa as a priority region.

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UNESCO, world heritage and the gridlock over Yemen

Cited by 14 publications

References 37 publications

Problematizing norms of heritage and peace: Militia mobilization and violence in Iraq

Problematizing norms of heritage and peace: Militia mobilization and violence in Iraq

World Heritage on the Move: Abandoning the Assessment of Authenticity to Meet the Challenges of the Twenty-First Century

The world is not enough: New diplomacy and dilemmas for the World Heritage Convention at 50

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