Rooted Cosmopolitanism, Heritage and the Question of Belonging: Archaeological and Anthropological Perspectives

This book explores the analytical and practical value of the notion of ＂rooted cosmopolitanism＂ for the field of cultural heritage.

Many concepts of present-day heritage discourses - such as World Heritage, local heritage practices, or indigenous heritage - tend to elide the complex interplay between the local and the global - entanglements that are investigated as ＂glocalisation＂ in Globalisation Studies. However, no human group ever creates more than a part of its heritage by itself. This book explores an exciting new alternative in scholarly (critical) heritage discourse, the notion of rooted cosmopolitanism, a way of making manifestations of globalised phenomena comprehensible and relevant at local levels. It develops a critical perspective on heritage and heritage practices, bringing together a highly varied yet conceptually focused set of stimulating contributions by senior and emerging scholars working on the heritage of localities across the globe. A contextualising introduction is followed by three strongly theoretical and methodological chapters which complement the second part of the book, six concrete, empirical chapters written in ＂response＂ to the more theoretical chapters. Two final reflective conclusions bring together these different levels of analysis.

This book will appeal primarily to archaeologists, anthropologists, heritage professionals, and museum curators who are ready to be confronted with innovative and exciting new approaches to the complexities of cultural heritage in a globalising world.

Lennart Wouter Kruijer is Lecturer in Ancient Visual and Material Culture at the department of Classics, Ancient History, Religion and Theology of Exeter University. He previously held an ANAMED postdoctoral fellowship at Koç University. He obtained his PhD from Leiden University, which is the basis of his 2024 book Objectscapes, ancient globalization and cultural transformation in Commagene (4th c. BCE - 1st c. CE (Asia Minor Studien, Habelt Verlag).

Miguel John Versluys is Full Professor and Chair of Classical & Mediterranean Archaeology at Leiden University and a member of the Academia Europaea as well as the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). His research focuses on the cultural dynamics that characterise the global ancient world. He actively engages with the presence of the past and the importance of deep history for our contemporary world, and its future. Between 2016 and 2022 he directed the NWO VICI-project Innovating objects.

Ian Lilley has worked in Australasian and Indo-Pacific archaeology and heritage for over 45 years. He is Professor Emeritus in the University of Queensland School of Social Science and was also inaugural Willem Willems Chair in the Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University, 2015-2022. Ian is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Australian Academy of Humanities. He has held visiting positions around the globe, most recently at the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut in Berlin. He has won numerous Australian Research Council and other national and international grants for archaeological research. He also has extensive experience with Australian and international heritage issues, from local to World Heritage level.