World Archaeological Congress, Jordan, 14-18 January, 2013.

World Archaeological Congress, Jordan, 14-18 January, 2013
Call for papers for the session:
Heritage as a common: a novel perspective on the entanglements of culture and economy

GONZÁLEZ, PABLO ALONSO University of Cambridge (U.K.)
BERNBECK, REINHARD Freie University (Berlin, Germany)
MANTILLA OLIVEROS, JOHANA CATERINA Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)
Abstract
The commons has emerged in recent years as an exciting arena for the rethinking of multiple problematic ownership situations around the globe and thus, of an exit from the simplistic dichotomy of “private” vs. “public” property. In the form of laws, the latter categories have wrought poverty and suffering on a globalized capitalist world. The commons can take multiple forms, from pre-industrial remnants in rural Europe to claims by indigenous communities against Western corporate attempts to appropriate bio-knowledge in South America. Our symposium will discuss its implications in the field of heritage and archaeology. We encourage participants from around the world to share their ideas in theoretical and empirical papers on connections between archaeology, heritage and property relations on questions such as:
•Could the commons provide a way out of problematic issues of ownership and the public/private dichotomy?
•What is its potential in the fight against the commodification of heritage?
•How can the notion of a “shared” heritage be mobilized by local communities to implement politics of redistribution and rethinking of ownership against an alienated “world heritage” that frames itself as globally “shared” common heritage of humanity?
•What are consequences of heritage as a commons for identity politics?
Abstracts up to 200 hundred words can be sent to pa332@cam.ac.uk
Approx. Papers target duration: 15 minutes