Racism is a significant problem in modern societies. People of all, although mainly non-Western European cultures, are discriminated against on a daily basis, based on their skin colour, religion...Show moreRacism is a significant problem in modern societies. People of all, although mainly non-Western European cultures, are discriminated against on a daily basis, based on their skin colour, religion and other characteristics. This thesis aims to assess the suitability of the museum to counteract racism against people of African descent. Placing museum exhibition into the context of modern museology and social priorities it asks: How are the memories and legacies of the transatlantic slave trade as an example of sensitive heritage curated in museums in the Netherlands and Britain today, and how could this be used to counteract modern racism? In this context, sensitive heritage is that heritage which is embedded with conflicting emotions on different sides and should approached sensibly. The racism debate restricts itself to racist behaviour against people of African descent, because racism based on external features developed during the age of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. Two exhibitions, Afterlives of slavery in the Netherlands, and the International Slavery Museum in Britain, have been subjected to analysis based on their chosen perspectives, the connection they made between past and present, and the extent to which they actively engage the visitor in the exhibition and beyond. The ISM has a broader geographical perspective, but is mainly Eurocentric. AoS is multiperspective in point of view, but lacks detail due to its small scale. Both exhibitions create a link between past and present, although the ISM focusses on the positive legacies, whereas AoS specifically addresses racism. Although both museums invite the visitor to leave their opinion, there is little other active engagement and there is no stimulation to take the dialogue outside the museum. Nonetheless, the analysis has shown that a museum, by its intrinsic subjectivity does have the potential to contribute to the understanding of the origins of racism and its modern consequences. This understanding, if taken outside the museum can contribute to the diminishing of racism.Show less
This research focuses on participatory management and explores how issues with implementation manifest themselves in an environment outside of the Western democratic context within which they are...Show moreThis research focuses on participatory management and explores how issues with implementation manifest themselves in an environment outside of the Western democratic context within which they are formed. It is argued here that although UNESCO is attempting to be inclusive of a variety of cultures, it still operates from a Eurocentric perspective and this creates unrealistic expectations of nation states that have a different cultural and institutional construction. The archaeological site of Nemrud Daǧ, located in southeastern Turkey, was chosen as a case study to illustrate the arguments made in this paper. This thesis could be interpreted as an in-depth stakeholder analysis for the site, highlighting problematic areas between stakeholders and the social, political and economic context which create them. The emphasis here is on the context that creates significance as opposed to the significance itself. This is because it is these factors that dictate significance and also create obstacles with participation. The Turkish Republic is not in the same position as Western Europe, yet it has a long history of aspiring to be. This is what makes the position of the country and its attitudes towards heritage so fascinating.Show less
Pirates have long played an integral role in people’s ideas of the history and heritage of the Caribbean, yet this heritage goes undefined. While academic scholarship on piracy has increased in...Show morePirates have long played an integral role in people’s ideas of the history and heritage of the Caribbean, yet this heritage goes undefined. While academic scholarship on piracy has increased in recent years, no investigation has yet been done on how piracy manifests as part of the heritage of the region. This paper is an attempt to examine this understudied area, and extend research on heritage in the Caribbean into a new direction. The concept of heritage as defined by Smith and Waterton in their essay ‘The Envy of the World?’ Intangible Heritage in England (2009) has provided the basis for the conceptualization of the heritage of piracy in this paper. They contend that all heritage is inherently intangible and that heritage is “the performance and negotiation of identity, values and a sense of place” (Smith and Waterton 2009, 292). By examining what form the heritage of pirates and piracy from the Golden Age (1650-1724) takes today, and how both Europeans and Americans, and Afro-Caribbeans view that heritage, this paper contends that pirates are absolutely part of the heritage of the Caribbean, and that pirate heritage manifests in both the modern romanticized idea of pirates portrayed in popular culture for European and Americans, and as part of the colonial legacy for Afro-Caribbeans. Moreover, while both of these groups do see pirates of the Golden Age as part of their heritage, the first embraces and celebrates it, whereas the second does not. This provides a clear example of the dissonance of all heritage, as described by Tunbridge and Ashworth (1996) and Smith and Waterton (2009); while heritage may be viewed as positive by one group, it will be viewed as negative by another.Show less
This thesis analyses the implementation of the Malta Convention in the European overseas countries and territories in the Caribbean. The European overseas countries and territories in the Caribbean...Show moreThis thesis analyses the implementation of the Malta Convention in the European overseas countries and territories in the Caribbean. The European overseas countries and territories in the Caribbean are a handful of islands still legally connected to either France, the Kingdom of the Netherland, or the United Kingdom. These islands have different constitutional relations with Europe and often the European nation is responsible for the signing of international conventions. One of these conventions is the European Convention on the protection of Archaeological heritage (revised) from the Council of Europe (Valletta 1992). This convention has a large impact on the archaeological heritage management in Europe. Important aspects of the Malta Convention are placing archaeology in the urban planning process, in situ preservation, financing of archaeological work (which has resulted in the developer pays principle); it also focuses on public outreach, scientific collaboration, and the prevention of illicit circulation of archaeological elements. The aim of the Malta Convention is “to protect the archaeological heritage as a source of the European collective memory..” (Malta Convention, Article 1.1). This raises the question of how well this convention could be applied to another context, such as the Caribbean. To analyse how the Malta Convention applies to the OCTs in the Caribbean, the legislation of the islands has firstly been analysed. Are the concepts of the Malta Convention present in the legislation? And secondly, is what is written in the legislation also executed on the islands? The effects of the Malta Convention on the daily basis of archaeological heritage management has been analysed through interviews with archaeologist working in the region.Show less
Archaeology on television has been a widely debated subject amongst academic archaeologists. Perhaps the dilemma that archaeologists face is that archaeology – its practice, its interpretations and...Show moreArchaeology on television has been a widely debated subject amongst academic archaeologists. Perhaps the dilemma that archaeologists face is that archaeology – its practice, its interpretations and the archaeological record it studies – is much like television, in that they both require high degrees of involvement to give them meaning. Thus concerns arise over the validity and ambiguity of the television programme’s information, and the archaeologist’s authority in discerning the past. However, should archaeologists be concerned about portrayal of archaeology in television documentaries? To provide answers to this question, the presentation of archaeological research, sites, objects and researchers in nine documentaries on the National Geographic Channel in the Netherlands in 2013, that were produced in 2012 and 2013, were analysed through ethnographic content analysis. The documentaries mainly focused on the practice of research, including the scientist’s fascination with research. Sometimes research methods were repeated before the camera after it initially had taken place, or they were shown ‘live’ and its results were analysed first-hand. However, the appearance and discussion of the research processes varied per type, possibly due to the structure of the method. In particular, archaeological fieldwork is a difficult process to capture on film, but the process of archaeological interpretation was often embedded in the entire storyline. Amongst other researchers, archaeologists appeared few in number. However, the archaeologists had a specific authoritative role as guides in understanding the past, and they would appear several times in a documentary to provide context or to interpret research results. It was found that certain narrative styles enabled, or disabled, involvement in the research and interpretation processes. There were many cases in which archaeology was presented in an open, yet informative way, while regarding the archaeologists (and researchers in other fields) as authorities. However, research can also be faked or appear unauthentic and authority can be abused. Therefore in communicating archaeology to the public a high degree of transparency is key.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to identify the status quo of stakeholder engagement in archaeological heritage projects in The Netherlands by studying the processes of organization and decision-making...Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to identify the status quo of stakeholder engagement in archaeological heritage projects in The Netherlands by studying the processes of organization and decision-making in the development of two main archaeological site parks. An integrated approach to heritage management is taken as starting point in the form of a values-based research strategy, by which all the stakeholder’s values attributed to the heritage sites are identified. The two case study projects under examination are Archaeological Park Matilo in Leiden and Castellum Hoge Woerd in Leidsche Rijn. They both involved preservation of archaeological remains and reconstructions of Roman castella in the setting of public site parks located in new city districts. The main research question is: What was the degree of stakeholder engagement in the development of Archaeological Park Matilo and Castellum Hoge Woerd and which values attributed to the heritage sites were most complied with in the projects? Data was collected by means of interviews with the main stakeholder groups, a qualitative research method. The main outcome of this study is that social values were complied with the least. Some additional ways of how to do things differently to this respect are provided.Show less
