The Making of Heritages among Nomadic, Pastoral Peoples in Muslim Societies (original) (raw)

Nomadic Peoples volume 20 number 2 Heritage Process among Nomadic Pastoralist Groups in Muslim Contexts Special Issue edited

This special issue inquires into the changes under way among nomadic, pastoral peoples in Muslim societies that are concurrent with the construction of a heritage, whether from their culture's material or immaterial aspects (Bortolotto 2011) or through 'protected areas' or 'conservation sites'. The five articles herein focus on nomadic, pastoral groups in several areas in the Muslim world, ranging from North Africa to central Asia. They span two areas of study: how nomadic, pastoral societies cope with social changes and public policies (Bonte and Ben Hounet 2009, Sternberg and Chatty 2013); and how 'heritages' are made from traditional practices and objects. This special issue has come out of a roundtable organised in March 2014 by the team working on the comparative anthropology of Muslim societies and cultures (Laboratory of Social Anthropology, Collège de France, Paris). By limiting the scope to Muslim societies, a reasoned and reasonable comparison can be proposed within a vast, diversified sociocultural zone. Furthermore, the part played by a religious identity in heritage-making among nomadic, pastoral peoples can be brought to light.

The Making of Islamic Heritage: Muslim Pasts and Heritage Presents

Offering key insights into critical debates on the construction, management and destruction of heritage in Muslim contexts, this volume considers how Islamic heritages are constructed through texts and practices which award heritage value. It examines how the monolithic representation of Islamic heritage (as a singular construct) can be enriched by the true diversity of Islamic heritages and how endangerment and vulnerability in this type of heritage construct can be re-conceptualized. Assessing these questions through an interdisciplinary lens including heritage studies, anthropology, history, conservation, religious studies and archaeology, this pivot covers global and local examples including heritage case studies from Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, and Pakistan.

“The Intertwining of History and Heritage in Islamic Contexts.” In The Making of Islamic Heritage: Muslim Pasts and Heritage Presents. Edited by Trinidad Rico. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017: 13-21.

Heritage" is implicated in the creation and circulation of categories through which Islam is studied and understood. The categories used in the management, identification, and safeguarding efforts of all heritageauthenticity, integrity, endangerment, values, and stewardship-are built on relationships between communities and their history, identity, politics, and beliefs, which are often employed as categories and relationships that are rigorous and normative. In contrast, a critical heritage framework recognizes the diversity of heritage constructs across territories and time and, accordingly, aims to destabilize these categories by considering and revealing the agendas and biases that have nurtured these categories and their underlying relationships, methodological approaches, and research agendas.

Heritage Policies, Tourism and Pastoral Groups in the Sultanate of Oman

Nomadic Peoples, 2016

Nomadic Peoples is an international journal published by the White Horse Press for the Commission on Nomadic Peoples, International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. Its primary concerns are the current circumstances of all nomadic peoples around the world and their prospects. Its readership includes all those interested in nomadic peoples-scholars, researchers, planners and project administrators.

Introduction: Investigating archaeological approaches to the study of religious practices and beliefs. In Nicola Laneri (ed.) 2015. Defining the Sacred Approaches to the Archaeology of Religion in the Near East.

Religion is a phenomenon that is inseparable from human society. It brings about a set of emotional, ideological and practical elements that are pervasive in the social fabric of any society and characterizable by a number of features. these include the establishment of intermediaries in the relationship between humans and the divine; the construction of ceremonial places for worshipping the gods and practicing ritual performances; and the creation ritual paraphernalia. Investigating the religious dimensions of ancient societies encounters problems in defining such elements, especially with regard to societies that lack textual evidences and has tended to lead towards the identification of differentiation between the mental dimension, related to religious beliefs, and the material one associated with religious practices, resulting in a separation between scholars able to investigate, and possibly reconstruct, ritual practices (i.e., archaeologists), and those interested in defining the realm of ancient beliefs (i.e., philologists and religious historians).