Conflict Transformation and Cultural Heritage Use in Cyprus

PDF
Published: Jun 29, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/hapscpbs.31001
Keywords:
Cyprus Cultural Heritage Heritage Use Unofficial Diplomacy Stereotypes Conflict Transformation Conflict Analysis
Nikos Pasamitros
Panteion University
Abstract

Cultural heritage use is often a point of friction between antagonistic groups in intrastate conflict. In other instances, use of heritage may facilitate intergroup contact and provide space for conflict transformation. The Cyprus issue is not an exception to this phenomenon. Although Cyprus is one of the most researched frozen conflict cases, cultural heritage use vis-à-vis conflict transformation is relatively understudied focusing primarily on tangible heritage protection, restoration and museology. This brief examines the degree of influence (be it positive or negative) of cultural heritage activity on conflict transformation between the two Cypriot communities. In specific, it examines bicommunal heritage projects, use of in-group and out-group heritage and, visits to own heritage sites on the other side of the divide. Results show that bicommunal heritage projects foster contact and cooperation, use of tangible heritage becomes the ground for antagonism over neglect and care of in-group and out-group sites, and visits to heritage on the other side provoke questions over use and reuse of neglected heritage of the other. In total, this brief demonstrates that often heritage issues are exploited in order to back ethnocentric positions. Both sides use own, neglected, damaged or lost heritage to support arguments of in-group superiority. Contrarily, the Cypriot communities do not consider intergroup cultural differences a deterring factor to transformation. The dynamic potentials of heritage can be utilised towards conflict transformation through bicommunal heritage activities, ventures attributing local ownership and joint management, and critical notions of heritage that favour intangibility and hybridity.

Article Details
  • Section
  • Articles
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Author Biography
Nikos Pasamitros, Panteion University

PhD in International Studies, Panteion University, Greece; Founding Member of Inter Alia NGO.

References
Allport, G. (1954, 1979, 2007). The Nature of Prejudice. Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.
Barlow, F. K., Paolini, S., Pedersen, A., Hornsey, M. J., Radke, H. R., Harwood, J., Sibley, C. G. (2012). The Contact Caveat: Predicts Increased Prejudice more than Positive Contact Predicts Reduced Prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(12): 1629-1643.
Broome, B. J. (2005). Building Bridges Across the Green Line: A Guide to Intercultural Communication in Cyprus. Nicosia: United Nations Development Programme.
Burgess, H. (2003). Stereotypes / Characterization Frames. Βeyond Ιntractability. Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/stereotypes (Accessed: 12/04/2022).
Charalambous, C., Charalambous, P. & Zembylas, M. (2013). Doing ‘Leftist Propaganda’ or Working towards Peace? Moving Greek-Cypriot Peace Education Struggles Beyond Local Political Complexities. Journal of Peace Education, 10(1): 67-87.
Coleman, P. T. (2006). Intractable Conflict. In: P. T. Morton Deutsch (ed.), The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice (2nd Edition). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Constantinou, C. M., & Hatay, M. (2010). Cyprus, Ethnic Conflict and Conflicted Heritage. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 33(9): 1600-1619.
Constantinou, C. M., Demetriou, O., & Hatay, M. (2012). Conflicts and Uses of Cultural Heritage in Cyprus. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 177–198.
Côté, J.E. (1996), Sociological perspectives on identity formation: the culture–identity link and identity capital. Journal of Adolescence, 19: 417-428.
Forbes, H. D. (1997). Ethnic Conflict: Commerce, Culture and the Contact Hypothesis. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Fukushima, A. (n.d.). Conflict and Culture: The Role of Cultural Initiatives in Peace-building. Japan: Jean Monnet Centre for EU Studies at Keio University Japan Foundation.
Gillespie, N., Georgiou, V., & Insay, S. (2013). Civil Society and Trust Building in Cyprus. Development in Practice, 23(8): 1078-1083.
Galtung, J. (1990). Cultural Violence. Journal of Peace Research, 27(3): 291-305.
Graf, S., Paolini, S., & Rubin, M. (2014). Negative intergroup contact is more influential, but positive intergroup contact is more common: Assessing contact prominence and contact prevalence in five Central European countries. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44(6): 536-547.
Hajisoteriou, C., Neophytou, L., & Angelides, P. (2015). The Perceptions of High-Level Officers in Cyprus about Intercultural Education and their Underlying Assumptions. The Curriculum Journal, 26(1): 115-136.
Hodson, G., & Hewstone, M. (2012). Advances in Intergroup Contact. East Sussex: Psychology Press.
Louise, C., & Morgan, T. (2013). Citizen Peacemaking in Cyprus: The Story of Co-operation and Trust across the Green Line. Cyprus: United Nations Development Programme.
Mac Ginty, R. (2011). International Peacebuilding and Local Resistance: Hybrid Forms of Peace. Houndmills: Palgrave.
McDonald, J. W. (2003) Multi-Track Diplomacy. Beyond Intractability. Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/multi-track-diplomacy (Accessed: 12/04/2022).
Pasamitros, N. (2017). Cultural Heritage: Contested Perspectives and Strategies in Kosovo. In I. Armakolas, A. Demjaha, A. Elbasani, S. Schwandner-Sievers, E. Skendaj, & N. Tzifakis (eds.), State-building in post-independence Kosovo: Policy Challenges and Societal Considerations. Prishtinë: Kosovo Foundation for Open Society, 291-308.
Peace Direct. (n.d.). Peacebuilding and Culture. Insight on Conflict. Available at: http://www.insightonconflict.org/themes/culture-media-advocacy/ (Accessed: 23/04/2022).
Pettigrew, T. F. (1998). Intergroup Contact Theory. Annual Review of Psychology, (49): 65 - 85.
Philippou, S. (2007). Policy, Curriculum and the Struggle for Change in Cyprus: the Case of the European Dimension in Education. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 17(3): 249-274.
Rosaldo, R. (2005). Foreward. In: N. G. Canclini (ed.), Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, xi-xviii.
Sherif, M., Harvey, O., White, J. B., Hood, W. R., & Sherif, C. W. (1954/1961). Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation: The Robbers Cave Experiment. Norman Classics.
Smith, L. (2006). Uses of Heritage. London: Routledge.
Tuncay, A. (2012). Brochure of the bi-communal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage in Cyprus, Academia. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/6439662/Brochure_of_the_bi-communal_Technical_Committee_on_Cultural_Heritage_in_Cyprus (Accessed: 19/04/2022).
UNDP (2015). The Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage in Cyprus. United Nations Development Programme. Available at: http://www.cy.undp.org/content/dam/cyprus/docs/PFF%20Publications/TTCCH%202015%20Brochure%20FINAL%20PRINTED.pdf (Accessed: 07/04/2022).
UNDP (2013). UNDP in Cyprus, United Nations Development Programme. Available at: http://www.cy.undp.org/content/cyprus/en/home/ourwork/partners.html (Accessed: 01/05/2022).
Wedge, B. (1990). The Individual, the Group and War. In J. B. Dukes (ed.), Conflict: Readings in Management & Resolution. London: Macmillan.
Wilson, C. T. (1996). Prejudice reduction or self‐selection? A test of the contact hypothesis. Sociological Spectrum, 16(1): 43-60.
Wright, S. C., Aron, A., McLaughlin-Volpe, T., & Ropp, S. A. (1997). The Extended Contact Effect: Knowledge of Cross-Group Friendships and Prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(1): 73-90.
Europa Nostra (2019). Lecture “Heritage-led Collaboration in a Divided City: The Nicosia Master Plan”, Leuven, Europa Nostra. Available at: https://www.europanostra.org/events/lecture-heritage-led-collaboration-in-a-divided-city-the-nicosia-master-plan-leuven/ (Accessed: 30/04/2022).