Saving the World? Reflections on UNESCO’s Mid Century Mission in Conflict

Illustrated lecture by Prof. Lynn Meskell, Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Professor, University of Pennsylvania and Richard D. Green Professor of Anthropology, School of Arts and Sciences, Professor, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, Weitzman School of Design, and Curator, Middle East and Asia sections, Penn Museum. Employing archival and ethnographic analysis, her award-winning book A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace (OUP, 2018) reveals UNESCO’s early forays into a one-world archaeology and its later commitments to global heritage

Chair: Prof. Madhavan K. Palat

At the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, UNESCO finds itself at an impasse, faced with the impossibility of calling powerful nations to account. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the most recent example. Yet earlier instances of inertia include international conflicts in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Crimea. More able to publicly repudiate non-state actors, such as Ansar Dine or Islamic State, than some of its own high-profile member states, UNESCO has increasingly walked a diplomatic tightrope and prioritized geopolitical alliances, financial considerations, and tactical relationships.