Over the past decade, history and heritage are increasingly called upon as a tool to facilitate trade and diplomatic relations, open borders, build intercultural dialogue, and help shift geo-political landscapes. At least partially, political leaders legitimize their vision for global order by invoking the past.
Consider, for example, of Xi Jinping’s 2013 speeches in Astana and Jakarta, at the launch of what is now known as the Belt and Road Initiative; or of Vladimir Putin’s 2014 Crimea speech, foreshadowing the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
But whose heritage is being invoked and mobilized?
How does this matter for the formation of (new) geopolitical alliances?
How are national, regional, and global boundaries redrawn with the help of heritage narratives?
How can the curation and presentation of diverse heritage voices and memories come to bear on larger geopolitical, regional, and national claims?
How can heritage advance geopolitical ambitions and new visions for global order?
This panel invites papers that explore the uses of history and heritage for geopolitical purposes. It also solicits explorations of how geopolitics defines our collective knowledge and understanding of history. We welcome both theoretical and empirical explorations pertaining but not limited, to:
- The intersections between heritage, history, and soft power in Asia and beyond
- The role of materiality and memory in critical geopolitics
- Identity, memory, and geopolitics
- Geopolitical uses of heritage diplomacy
- Borders and civilizational states
- Transnational heritage and UNESCO
- Visual politics, heritage aesthetics, and trans-territorial claims
- Geopolitics, legitimacy, and international order
- The role of migrants and diasporas in upholding or disrupting heritage and memory claims
