Heritage Statecraft: Transcending Methodological Nationalism in the Russian Federation

The nation and theories of nationalism still largely dominate the methodological toolkit and conceptual lexicon of many investigations from the fields of heritage and memory studies. Although it is true that the past continues to be an important asset in constructing appropriate national identities legitimizing political structures and administrative frameworks, post-structural theories about governing and statecraft show that culture is not only the domain of the nation-state but serves a variety of agendas. Drawing on two case studies exploring the social, cultural, economic, and diplomatic entanglements of heritage politicization in the Russian Federation, this chapter encourages its readership to transcend their focus on the nexus heritage-nation-building and explore the imbrications between heritage and statecraft. By looking at how international players and private companies use the past in their efforts of crafting appropriate institutional landscapes and governable subjects adhering to convenient regimes of truth and power structures, this chapter encourages researchers from the field of heritage and memory studies to diversify their theoretical and methodological toolkit in investigations of the use of history in modern politics.