Relational heritage sovereignty: authorization, territorialization and the making of the Silk Roads

Abstract

Relational heritage sovereignty: authorization, territorialization and the making of the Silk Roads. Territory, Politics, Governance. The gaze towards the Silk Roads was first initiated by UNESCO’s heritage project in tandem with its new category of cultural routes. The idea of a cultural route as a form of heritage, as well as the associated procedures of nomination, registration and conservation, entails rulemaking by international organizations. A route that transcends national boundaries triggers concerns about state sovereignty and international knowledge. Drawing insights from critical heritage studies and political geography, this study proposes a relational heritage sovereignty measured by two axes: the power of an expert apparatus of rulemaking and territorialization. By examining the heritage nomination process of ‘Silk Roads: Chang’an-Tianshan Section’, the paper interrogates the politics of assemblage, knowledge and territory. In particular, it explores how a cultural route offers space for international and local experts as well as political and economic organizations to collect, compare, categorize and reassemble sites/places, historical episodes, and technical knowledge to legitimize an imaginary territory with new power relations in the present. The relationality of heritage sovereignty pushes for more serious attention to be paid to the politics of assemblage and the ongoing process of power–territorialization reconfiguration.