Archive for publications, 2024

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[Commlist] New Book: Geopolitics of Digital Heritage

Mon Jan 22 13:08:17 GMT 2024


Open Access New Book: Geopolitics of Digital Heritage

Natalia Grincheva is writing to share that the new co-authored monograph, */Geopolitics of Digital Heritage/ (2024: Cambridge University Press)*, has just been published online.

The book is now in *Open Access until February 2, 2024*
*You can download your FREE e-copy of the book  from here:*
https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/geopolitics-of-digital-heritage/0F7DD9BC4693903022001EC7852377B8

Please feel free to share with your students, colleagues, and your Universities Libraries!

*Book Abstract: *
Geopolitics of Digital Heritage analyzes and discusses the political implications of the largest digital heritage aggregators across different scales of governance, from the city-state governed Singapore Memory Project, to a national aggregator like Australia's Trove, to supranational digital heritage platforms, such as Europeana, to the global heritage aggregator, Google Arts & Culture. These four dedicated case studies provide focused, exploratory sites for critical investigation of digital heritage aggregators from the perspective of their geopolitical motivations and interests, the economic and cultural agendas of involved stakeholders, as well as their foreign policy strategies and objectives. The Element employs an interdisciplinary approach and combines critical heritage studies with the study of digital politics and communications. Drawing from empirical case study analysis, it investigates how political imperatives manifest in the development of digital heritage platforms to serve different actors in a highly saturated global information space, ranging from national governments to transnational corporations.

*Table of Contents:*
*1 Introduction*
Defining the Geopolitics of Digital Heritage
The Production and Deconstruction of Digital Heritage Geopolitics
Section Outline

*2 Crowdsourcing National Identity: Singapore Memory Project*
Introduction
Nation-Building: From Singapore Production to Consumption
Nation Branding: Virtual Enlargement of Singapore
Conclusion

*3 Building National Heritage Infrastructure: Trove*
Introduction
Australian Geopolitics
Trove: From ‘Find and Get’ to National Heritage Infrastructure
Digital Heritage of the Nation
Indigenous Digital Heritage Cultures
Conclusion

*4 Constructing Virtual Europe: Europeana*
Introduction
Geopolitics: Fostering Regional Cohesion
Building Europeana, ‘Harmonizing’ Cultural Collections
 From Digital Library to Digital Sovereignty
Conclusion

*5 Aggregating Global Heritage: Google Arts & Culture*
Introduction
Building a Monopoly: Digital Heritage Imperialism
Google Geopolitics: A Transnational Media Corporation on the World Stage
Implications of Heritage Platformization
Conclusion

*6 Conclusion*
Digital Technologies of Spatial Production
The Future of Digital Heritage Aggregators: Navigating the Extremes
References


Natalia Grincheva is now soliciting the book reviews. Please do let Natalia know if you are interested in writing one at (grincheva /at/ gmail.com)

The monograph received the following appraisals from major scholars in the field:

*Tim Winter, Professor, National University of Singapore, Author of /Geocultural Power /(Chicago) and /The Silk Road: connecting histories and futures/ (Oxford):* This book takes critical heritage studies in new, exciting and important directions. It introduces a domain of enquiry, digital heritage geopolitics, via fascinating examples that move from the city-state of Singapore, to the continental, to Google's global ambitions. Grincheva and Stainforth's important study provides us with a valuable foundation for understanding how the capturing and codifying, ordering and (re)presenting of culture as data now takes on geopolitical dimensions, and why that matters in a digitally connected and competitive world.'

*Christine Sylvester, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at University of Connecticut:* 'This book systematically updates traditional bases of heritage studies, international politics, and even museum studies to include state and corporate projects that configure new geopolitics of cultural power and control. Heritage aggregation is the overarching theme here and it is masterfully revealed in case studies from Singapore, Australia, Europe, and Google. The Google case is especially riveting, but each example expertly lays out the mechanisms and the reach of today's digitalized world. Short, to the point, and definitely important.'

*David C. Harvey, Professor, Aarhus University, Denmark:*
'Through its exploration of how culture is collected, organised and valued in the realm of digital heritage, this insightful and clearly written book deals with some of the key issues facing heritage scholarship today. Skilfully weaving together literature from critical heritage studies, digital humanities and governmental theory, the book draws on four case studies of digital aggregators, to develop a broader understanding of how digital heritage shapes and is shaped by political and ideological agendas at multiple scales. It will stand as a key reference point, both reflecting recent advances in digital heritage scholarship, and by providing a platform for further questioning on the future of the field.'

*Dave O'Brien, Professor of Creative & Cultural Industries, University of Manchester, UK:* 'Geopolitics of Digital Heritage is a brilliant and concise overview of a crucial question for heritage scholars - who controls the digital archive? Offering a rich theoretical base for the analysis, as well as 4 detailed - and global - case studies, the book is an important intervention. It reveals the power dynamics underpinning digital heritage infrastructure and offers a starting point for the public to question the politics and commercial imperatives associated with state and corporate control of culture.'

*Rhonda Zaharna, Professor of Global Communications, American University, USA:* 'The path-breaking Element, Geopolitics of Digital Heritage, opens the conversation on the geopolitical dimension of digital heritage policy and politics. While the role of digitalization of cultural heritages has gained increasing attention, this is the first work to view practices and policies through a geopolitical lens. Digital politics have become a new political arena where information is a major weapon of power and control. The scholars present four case studies with rich research detail and a probing analysis to demonstrate how state and non-state actors are aggregating and curating digital cultural data in pursuit of their geopolitical agendas to shape collective public memories, national images, and cultural consumption. Not all is for the better; the authors raise concerns beyond cultural competition and instrumentalization to dangers of global monopolization, Disneyfication, commodification and digital imperialism.'


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