Territorial alienation through World Heritage: analysis of the World Heritage List of Latin America and the Caribbean from a critical geopolitical approach

Abstract

Cultural heritage, understood as the selection of sites or cultural manifestations transmitted for future generations, is rooted in the nationalist projects of states during European modernity. After the terrible consequences of the world wars this conservation model was universalized searching to preserve the heritage of mankind and supporting, at the same time, the construction of a liberal international order. Since then, international organizations have sought to direct efforts towards this goal. In 1972 the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage emerged as a result of discussions at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This convention was concerned about the deterioration or disappearance of cultural or natural heritage, something viewed as harmful and an impoverishment of the heritage of all the nations of the world.  This is why the agreement summoned the states to participate in the protection of world heritage of outstanding universal value, by cultivating collective cooperation and assistance. A list of monuments and sites that form part of world heritage was established, in terms of aesthetic, historical, artistic or scientific criteria. However, over time, in the selection process of world heritage sites disputes and power asymmetries have arisen between countries around the control of space.

This problem can be analyzed through Critical Heritage and Critical Geopolitics approaches, spanning the historical changes and current critical debates about heritage, as well as the political processes of narratives, metaphors and social image constructions around territory. We propose that nominating a territory as a world heritage site generates its alienation. That is, states absorb local territories (understood as a social construct) into dominant national narratives and images, subsequently, countries consolidate their appropriation by enlisting their nationalized territories within the meta-narrative of world heritage. In this process, countries must participate in a highly politicized and structurally unequal international negotiation that reproduces spatial hierarchies. Ultimately, these local territories and practices suffer a process of assimilation into the allegory of world heritage. With this in mind, the aim of this study is to analyze the territorial alienation of properties inscribed on the World Heritage List by Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries as a case study. This alienation occurs because, given the conditions of UNESCO, the countries of the region must adopt an artificial set of categories, typologies and narratives, absorbing or denying other territorial practices. This paper is divided in two sections. The first section gives a brief overview of world heritage origins centered on national projects within a specific European context, and explains Critical Heritage and Critical Geopolitics approaches.

A discussion of the evolution of world heritage categories and symbolic aspects of power is reviewed, highlighting the imposition of historical narratives in official documents, the reproduction of aesthetic codes and the construction of imaginaries around the past of territories. The second section analyses the particular case of the World Heritage List in Latin America and the Caribbean. In order to study territorial alienations, methodologically we review countries ratifications of the 1972 convention, the total number of sites, obstacles in international negotiations, narratives, as well as historical events commemorated by the world heritage officially recognized in this part of the planet. The inscription of a site on the World Heritage List requires a nomination file. We used the UNESCO’s files to detect these historical narratives and discourses. Some conclusions are drawn, our findings would seem to show that world heritage sites in Latina America and the Caribbean are underrepresented compared to Europe and North America. In addition, these sites are geographically concentrated in South America, with the Caribbean as the least favored sub-region. At the beginning, countries were reluctant to ratify the 1972 convention due to the prevailing Cold War context, but gradually all countries in the region accepted the commitment. States like Mexico top the List of World Heritage sites, but others have no sites recognized; differences in the number of sites registered by the countries do not only stem from their geographical attributes and their historical past, but also because of the political, technical and economic potential to participate in diplomatic negotiations at UNESCO.

Arguments for inscribing a site as world heritage in this region highlights the relevance of natural and exotic places. This looks like a continuity of dominant imperialist narratives during the conquest and colonization of the continent America. The separation between natural and cultural world heritage is an artificial division adopted, but contrary to some local traditions in the region. The arrival of Europeans to Latin America has been established as a time marker used for example to talk about “pre-Columbian” cultures. In any case, few sites commemorate pre-Columbian civilizations, with the exception of the Mayas and the Incas, which contrasts with the cultural diversity and traditional groups that are not part of these dominant versions of the past. It may be assumed that in historical commemorations of world heritage sites in this region, the colonial past is notoriously overvalued and magnified; that is, it is presented as a favorable stage indicating a kind of cultural sophistication for indigenous people. Amazingly, territories essential to fulfilling their goal of extracting natural resources for the European settlers are now uncritically recognized as world heritage (for example mining centers, plantations, seaports or strategic villages). Similarly, cultural sites of Roman Catholic Christianity are evoked as a favorable contribution for the historical regional memory, but denying impositions around the conflictive and complex process of evangelization; in the same way other religions and beliefs are omitted. There are many colonial sites enlisted as world heritage but very few referring to the modern history of the region, significantly reformist narratives are absent: independence movements, abolition of slavery or contemporary indigenous and black population claims are not raised.

In summary, these results suggest that, from a critical perspective, the world heritage sites in Latina America and the Caribbean allow dominant relations to continue through values of European origin, selective historical narratives and illusory images as a colonized region. As long as other relevant regional historical events or social actors are ignored, the regional past and cultural heritage will be incomplete. The region reaffirms its peripheral and subordinated position in the international system through historical narratives acritically adopted. Latin American and Caribbean territories are more than exotic landscapes and places of colonial splendor for tourism. Analyzing world heritage from a critical perspective is a way to re-center the territory as a key axis in this dynamic and to recognize other memories and spatial relations.