Lynn Meskell: Ruin warfare: How and why we weaponize the past
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How did global heritage become the new battlespace for 21st-century warfare?
Nations and non-state actors alike increasingly use the ruins of the past to leverage legal, political, and territorial ambitions. This talk examines two intersecting international organizations that seek to combat the fallout from ruin warfare.
The first, UNESCO, established after the Second World War and dedicated to world peace through culture and co-operation, has inherited a ruinous legacy of war and destruction.
The other is NATO, a Cold War military alliance that must now confront cultural heritage in both its protective and punitive missions.
Lynn Meskell is Professor of Anthropology in the School of Arts and Sciences, Professor in the Departtment of Historical Preservation, and Curator in the Middle East and Asia sections at the Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania. Recent Book: A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace (2018). Ruined: The Heritage of War from UNESCO to NATO is to be published in October 2027.
Moderator: Nils Anfinset, Professor at the University Museum of Bergen.
Nations and non-state actors alike increasingly use the ruins of the past to leverage legal, political, and territorial ambitions. This talk examines two intersecting international organizations that seek to combat the fallout from ruin warfare.
The first, UNESCO, established after the Second World War and dedicated to world peace through culture and co-operation, has inherited a ruinous legacy of war and destruction.
The other is NATO, a Cold War military alliance that must now confront cultural heritage in both its protective and punitive missions.
Lynn Meskell is Professor of Anthropology in the School of Arts and Sciences, Professor in the Departtment of Historical Preservation, and Curator in the Middle East and Asia sections at the Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania. Recent Book: A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace (2018). Ruined: The Heritage of War from UNESCO to NATO is to be published in October 2027.
Moderator: Nils Anfinset, Professor at the University Museum of Bergen.
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Where is it happening?
GODT BRØD (Muséplassen), Bergen, Norway
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherForum for vitenskap og demokrati
