Who Owns the Past? Some Diagnostic Dilemmas of Asian Heritage Politics
In this lecture Prof. Michael Herzfeld will address two inter-related topics: the impact of colonialism on aesthetic choices in historic conservation in Asia; and the impact of those choices on the forms and lifestyles of the cities in question.
About the lecture
Prof. Michael Herzfeld will address two inter-related topics: the impact of colonialism on aesthetic choices in historic conservation in Asia; and the impact of those choices on the forms and lifestyles of the cities in question. Adding to the mixture is the vexed question of the alleged distinction between tangible and intangible heritage. The speaker will argue that this distinction actually reinforces existing power structures at the expense of the “user-friendliness” of urban arrangements. While these issues are not unique to Asia, they take on a revealing dynamic in the light of claims that various international bodies have adopted Asian models as a way of contesting European cultural hegemony.
About the speaker
Michael Herzfeld is Ernest E. Monrad Professor of the Social Sciences in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1991. The author of ten books -- including A Place in History (1991), Cultural Intimacy (1997), The Body Impolitic (2004), and Evicted from Eternity (2009) -- and numerous articles and reviews, he has also produced two ethnographic films (Monti Moments [2007] and Roman Restaurant Rhythms [2011]). His honors include the J.I. Staley Prize and the Rivers Memorial Medal (both in 1994) and honorary doctorates from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (2005), the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki (2011), and the University of Crete (2013). He has served as editor of American Ethnologist (1995-98) and is currently editor-at-large (responsible for “Polyglot Perspectives”) at Anthropological Quarterly. He is also a member of the editorial boards of several journals, including International Journal of Heritage Studies, Anthropology Today, and South East Asia Research. His research in Greece, Italy, and Thailand has addressed the social and political impact of historic conservation and gentrification, the dynamics of nationalism and bureaucracy, and the ethnography of knowledge among artisans and intellectuals. He is currently working on a book and a film about the politics of heritage and spatiality in Bangkok. He is guest lecturer for the course “Critical Approaches to Heritage Studies” within the MA Asian Studies Programme at Leiden University, the Netherlands.