2025/08/01 by Dilek Elvan Çokişler
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Archaeological Research and Protection #Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation #Global Security and Public Health
paper · doi:10.1017/s0940739125100155
openalex publication_date 2025/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/11/17 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Abstract This article maps how cultural heritage has been securitized in international discourse by analyzing seven key United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN Security Council (UNSC) documents (2003–2017). Drawing on the Copenhagen School’s framework and its distinction between identification and mobilization, the study reveals a two-stage process. Initially, heritage destruction was framed as a human rights violation, later escalating into a global security threat linked to terrorism and conflict financing. Through a sectoral and scalar typology of referent objects, the analysis highlights divergent framings by UNESCO (societal, normative) and the UNSC (military, strategic). Despite strong discursive alignment—culminating in UNSC Resolution 2347—the mobilization of extraordinary measures remained limited. The article concludes that heritage securitization is discursively robust but operationally incomplete, shaped by institutional capacities, leadership shifts, and evolving geopolitical contexts. These findings contribute to the broader literature on security politics, norm diffusion, and the symbolic power of heritage in global governance.