Dilapidated huts and piles of rocks : the geopolitics of cultural heritage in Antarctica ...

• Main Author: Hingley, RE
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University Of Tasmania 2023
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25959/23247281; https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Dilapidated_huts_and_piles_of_rocks_the_geopolitics_of_cultural_heritage_in_Antarctica/23247281

The idea of heritage in Antarctica stereotypically evokes images of disintegrating huts buried under snow or ice, and rock cairns scattered across the continent. Similarly, it might be thought that the challenges of heritage management in this polar region are limited to maintaining the physical longevity of sites situated in an extreme and remote environment. But these historic remains are powerful political resources as well as vulnerable cultural artefacts. This thesis examines how Antarctic heritage is deployed for geopolitical means by states, providing them with an alternative pathway to influence international affairs. This appropriation of cultural heritage is of particular importance to the currently well-managed, yet technically unresolved, issue of sovereignty south of 60° South latitude. Although the region's overarching governing regime specifically prohibits states from asserting sovereignty within this geographical area, states can enhance their presence in Antarctica by treating ...