"Scholars seeking a survey of the current status of national cultural heritage and cultural property legislation and regulations need look no further. Cultural Heritage Management brings together a worldwide selection of experts to explore both how--and how successfully--different nations deal with the past."--Alex W. Barker, University of Missouri, Columbia


"Represents a valuable contribution to the field of heritage studies. Taking a global perspective, it raises issues of significant concern to heritage practitioners and scholars alike."--John Carman, University of Birmingham, UK



Even as places and objects that have particular cultural significance are increasingly valued in our global world, powerful forces threaten them with destruction. Cultural Heritage Management discusses the efforts of a broad range of contributors devoted to safeguarding our cultural heritage.

Editors Phyllis Mauch Messenger and George Smith have brought together an international group of contributors, featuring archaeologists, anthropologists, development specialists, and others engaged in the study, management, protection, and interpretation of places and objects that represent histories, traditions, and cultural identities.

From international law to artifact preservation to site interpretation, there is a wide variety of approaches to the management of our cultural heritage. Combining the voices of scholars and practitioners, the book provides a much-needed diversity of voices and perspectives from people steeped in the issues that directly affect the future of the past.

Phyllis Mauch Messenger, editor of The Ethics of Collecting Cultural Property, serves as grants consultant for the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota and was the founding director of the Center for Anthropology and Cultural Heritage Education at Hamline University. George S. Smith is cochair of the Heritage Values Interest Group of the Society for American Archaeology.

No Sample Chapter Available

"An extremely useful resource with which to compare different management systems."
--Museum Anthropology Review

An eye opener to the reality of cultural heritage, which despite being of increasingly value in our global world, keeps on being threatened by destruction.
--Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development

Provides a rich set of both theoretical background and practical international evidence of the factors influencing the management of heritage resources. This text nicely integrates theoretical concepts with practical evidence gathered through a wide spectrum of countries, types of cultural resources of different sizes, economic development, and geographical locations. It constitutes a useful reading for researchers and academics, as well as for undergraduate or graduate students and for all practitioners and policy-makers involved in cultural heritage management.
--Journal of Tourism History

This book provides a framework for reflection and debate and offers valuable avenues for further discussion as the concept of cultural heritage rapidly evolves.
--American Indian Culture & Research Journal