‘Lost in translation’? Peace education and the operational limits of world heritage tourism in Iran
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24238802 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fabio Carbone (0000-0002-6711-4892, University of Northampton), Tiamnaz Khanzadi (University of Tehran) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-17 |
| Publication date | 2026-10-22 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Heritage Tourism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1743-873X • E-ISSN: 1747-6631 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1743873x.2026.2739965 |
| OpenAlex | W7223187220 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 52 |
This study examines the extent to which UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHSs) operationalise peace education through tourism. While UNESCO frames WHSs as spaces capable of fostering intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding, limited research has explored how these aspirations are translated into heritage governance and tourism management practices. Using a comparative case study approach, the research investigates ten UNESCO WHSs in Iran through semi-structured interviews with site managers and curators, participant observation, and documentary analysis. Drawing selectively on Bourdieu’s concepts of field, habitus, and symbolic capital as interpretive tools, the study examines how institutional structures, managerial priorities, and geopolitical dynamics shape the implementation of peace-oriented practices within heritage tourism contexts. The findings reveal a significant gap between UNESCO’s normative peace discourse and the operational realities of heritage tourism governance. Although heritage managers frequently emphasise cultural preservation and national identity, explicit peace education strategies remain limited, fragmented, or implicitly embedded within broader interpretive frameworks. The study contributes to heritage and tourism scholarship by conceptualising WHSs as contested heritage fields in which peace education is socially and institutionally negotiated rather than automatically generated through cultural exposure alone. The paper concludes by discussing implications for heritage governance, tourism management, and peace-oriented cultural policy frameworks.
Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Cultural Identity and Heritage · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration
Heritage and Legitimacy
Education for Sustainable Peace and Conflict Resilient Communities
Peace by Peaceful Means
Tourism and Postcolonialism
Cultural Heritage and Tourism
Heritage
The relevance of motivation, authenticity and destination image to explain future behavioural intention in a Unesco World Heritage Site
War-related attractions
“Don’t look back in anger”. War museums’ role in the post conflict tourism-peace nexus
Outline of a Theory of Practice
The Cultural Dimension of Peace
Holy War, Holy Peace
Social Research
Tourism and Global Environmental Change
Qualitative Research in Tourism
Field archaeology and foreign assistance during the decade of development in Iran and Turkey
Emotions and transformative learning for sustainability
Sanctions and tourist flows
Tourism and the making of the modern Middle East
Iran’s golden age of tourism
Unesco-UNDP tourism and security in Cold War Turkey and Iran
World Heritage
Peace through tourism
The tourism and peace nexus
Does tourism lead to peace
The Heritage-scape
Theoretical and political implications of agonistic peace for decolonising peace education
Paideia approach for heritage management. The tourist enhancement of archaeological heritage on behalf of local communities
Dark tourism, thanatourism, and dissonance in heritage tourism management
Peace education theory
The Role of Heritage Interpretation in Building Peace
Violence, Peace, and Peace Research
Cultural Violence
| Highly cited | No |
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