Problematizing norms of heritage and peace

Militia mobilization and violence in Iraq

Bibliographic Data

ID8911275
AuthorsBenjamin Isakhan (0000-0002-5153-7110, corresponding author), Ali Akbar (0000-0003-4620-9953)
Year2022
Volume57
Issue4
Pages516-534
Publication date2022-05-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCooperation and Conflict (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0010-8367 • E-ISSN: 1460-3691
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00108367221093161
OpenAlexW4281477065
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited44

The destruction of heritage in conflict has emerged as a key challenge to global security and the prospects of peace. In response to the deliberate targeting of heritage sites by the Islamic State (IS) and other actors in recent years, the international community has launched a number of initiatives designed to protect and reconstruct key heritage sites in complex (post-)conflict contexts. However, this article demonstrates that such initiatives are often underpinned by the norm that the protection of heritage in conflict can serve to enhance the prospects of reconciliation, stability and peace. This article problematizes this norm by focussing on the case study of Shia responses to the targeting of their religious heritage sites by the IS in Iraq from mid-2014. It documents the ways that key Shia leaders instrumentalized the case of protecting heritage not to advance peace and security, but to create entirely new militias, to recruit thousands of Shia faithful, to mobilize them to fight against the IS, and to engage in violence and human rights abuses. This raises significant concerns about whether the promotion of heritage as a pathway to peace could inadvertently exacerbate conflict and lead to renewed waves of violence and heritage destruction

Criminology · Environmental ethics · Geography · Human rights · Islam · Norm (philosophy · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · State (computer science · Archaeological Research and Protection · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Law

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