Cultural Heritage Partners is pleased to share the news that the new book Relevance and Application of Heritage in Contemporary Society is available from Routledge. CHP Partners Marion Werkheiser and Eden Burgess were both honored to prepare chapters for the book, and to participate in an illuminating symposium with all the book’s contributors at the Royal Ontario Museum (affectionately referred to as the ROM) (pictured below).
Marion’s chapter (co-authored with Trace Brooks and CHP’s own Ellen Chapman), “Heritage in the Global Economy: Protecting Cultural Heritage through Non-Governmental and Voluntary Practices,” addresses the potential for non-legal approaches to preserve the world’s cultural heritage sites. The chapter posits that approaches such as the World Bank safeguards and voluntary practices proposed by non-governmental organizations such as Leaders in Energy and Preservation (LEAP) provide an alternative to traditional legal enforcement and can be effective in preserving cultural heritage and historic sites.
In Eden’s chapter, “What’s a Museum to Do? The Global Trade in Illegal Antiquities,” she discusses the pervasive and seemingly intractable problem of the international trade in looted antiquities, and what role museums do or should play in that market. While museums are subject to myriad legal and ethical guidance, such limitations have not stopped the worldwide trafficking in illegally obtained antiquities.
We hope you enjoy these and the other chapters in Relevance and Application of Heritage in Contemporary Society. We’d like to thank the book’s editors Pei-Lin Yu, Chen Shen, and George Smith for organizing the symposium and bringing this volume to fruition. The book is available for purchase online from Routledge.