Cultural Heritage, Transnational Narratives and Museum Franchising in Abu Dhabi

This publication contributes to new understandings of how heritage operates as a global phenomenon and the transnational heritage discourses that emerge from this process. Taking such a view sees autochthonous and franchised heritage not as separate or opposing elements but as part of the same process of contemporary globalised identity-making, which contributes to the development of newly emergent cosmopolitan identities. The book critically examines the processes that are involved in the franchising of heritage and its cultural effects. It does so by examining the connections and tensions that emerge from combining autochthonous and franchised heritage in the United Arab Emirates, providing a unique window in to the process of creating hybrid heritage in non-Western contexts. It develops new ideas about how this global phenomenon works, how it might be characterised and how it influences and is itself affected by local forms of heritage. By exploring how autochthonous and franchised heritage is produced in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates it becomes clear that Western-dominated practices are often challenged and, perhaps more importantly, that new ways of understanding, producing and living with heritage are being articulated in these previously marginal locations.

The book offers innovative insights into heritage as a transnational process, exploring how it operates within local, national and international identity concerns and debates. It will appeal to scholars and students interested in critical heritage studies, museums, tourism, cultural studies and Middle Eastern studies.

Sarina Wakefield is a Lecturer and Programme Director, Museum Studies (Distance Learning) in the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester. She is also the Founder and Director of the Museums in Arabia conference series. Previously, she has lectured at College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Zayed University, Dubai, UAE and at UCL Qatar on the MA in Museum and Gallery Practice. Also, she has worked on museum and heritage projects in the UK and Bahrain. Her primary research focuses on critical heritage studies and museology of the Gulf. More broadly, she is interested in transnational identity, globalisation, universal museums, franchise museums, the global art market, heritage and migrant identity, and the relationships between heritage and sports. She has published around these subjects in international journals and books and is editor of the forthcoming volume Museums of the Arabian Peninsula: Historical Developments and Contemporary Discourses (Routledge). She is also the co-editor for the Routledge book series Cultural Heritage, Art and Museums in the Middle East. She received her BSc in Archaeology and her MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester (UK) and her PhD in History from the Open University (UK).