Challenges to Identifying and Managing Intangible Cultural Heritage in Mauritius, Zanzibar and Seychelles

Auteurs-es

Rosabelle Boswell
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Synopsis

CODESRIA, ISBN: 2-86978-215-2; ISBN 13: 978-2-86978-215-0; 93 pages, 2008

This book is a preliminary discussion of factors challenging the management of intangible cultural heritage in the African communities of Zanzibar, Mauritius and Seychelles. These islands are part of an overlapping cultural and economic zone influenced by a long history of slavery and colonial rule, a situation that has produced inequalities and underdevelopment. In all of them, heritage management is seriously underfinanced and under-resourced.

African descendant heritage is given little attention and this continues to erode identity and sense of belonging to the nation.

In Zanzibar, tensions between majority and minority political parties affect heritage initiatives on the island.

In Mauritius, the need to diversify the economy and tourism sector is encouraging the commercialisation of heritage and the homogenisation of Creole identity.

In Seychelles, the legacy of socialist rule affects the
conceptualisation and management of heritage, thereby discouraging a thorough exploration of the island’s wide range of
intangible heritages.

Through this book the author expresses the urgent need to commit more funding and greater attention to
heritage management in Africa.

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Biographie de l'auteur-e

Rosabelle Boswell

is a social anthropologist. She has a PhD from the Free University of Amsterdam and an MA from the University of Cape Town. Her research reveals a deep interest in diversity management, cultural heritage, and the role of gender in development. She has done fieldwork in Mauritius, Seychelles, Zanzibar, Madagascar, and South Africa, and has received funding support from: the Netherlands Foundation for Advanced Tropical Research (NWO/WOTRO); the Council for the Development of Social Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the Organisation for Social Science Research in East and Southern Africa (OSSREA). Her current work includes research on race and reconciliation for the Mauritius Truth and Justice Commission and MPI research on gender, heritage, and diversity in South Africa.

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juin 26, 2008