How do our notions of the past shape the world we live in – and the future we are moving into? This question is central to David Harvey's research.

The appointment strengthens a field of research that examines how understandings of the past, present and future shape societies, identities and power relations – locally as well as globally.

In his research, David Harvey brings together perspectives from geography and cultural heritage studies. He examines how people use and experience history and belonging in different spatial contexts – from nations and territories to landscapes and specific places.

A key goal of his professorship is to help develop cultural heritage studies as a field of research – both at Aarhus University and internationally. For him, heritage is not just something we preserve from the past, but something we actively use and interpret in the present – and that shapes the future.

Therefore, he emphasizes understanding how heritage is connected to specific places and spaces: Who has the right to a territory? How does identity relate to a landscape? How are stories of the past used politically – locally, nationally and globally? According to Harvey, cultural heritage research can help to shed light on and deal with some of the major challenges facing the world today.

"Heritage is not just something we preserve from the past. It is something we actively use in the present – to shape identities, communities and political agendas. That is why cultural heritage is never innocent,” says David Harvey.

Cultural heritage in an uncertain world
Harvey's research is closely linked to current societal issues. We live in a time characterized by geopolitical tension, war in Ukraine, climate crisis, debates surrounding Greenland, populist nationalism and shifting global power balances.

In the public debate, analyses of military, diplomatic and economic conditions take up a lot of space. But according to Harvey, cultural heritage also plays an important – and often overlooked – role. Ideas about history, identity and belonging help shape conflicts, alliances and political decisions.

Cultural heritage research can thus provide new perspectives on some of the conflicts and tensions that characterize the world today.

At the same time, he is working on a more fundamental question: How can heritage help to support inclusive communities rather than be a tool of division? His research examines how narratives about the past can strengthen both individual and collective identities – and at best, contribute to peaceful coexistence. This applies in Aarhus and Denmark as well as internationally.

The fascination of ruins
His interest in cultural heritage began during his undergraduate studies, where he wrote his thesis on the conservation of ruined archaeological sites in Ireland. Here he became interested in what ruins actually do: How a destroyed place – when preserved and staged – can tell powerful and very different stories.

This led him to see heritage as something that is not just about the past, but about the needs of the present and the future. Heritage contains paradoxes and great power – it can unite and create understanding, but it can also be used to exclude and create conflict. That is precisely why he believes that we should not take it for granted.

Facts about the inaugural lecture
Date: Friday 19 June 2026
Time: 4.15 pm
Place: Lecture Hall (4206-139), Moesgaard Campus
Title: "Recovering from Ruins: Learning from a History of Heritage Futures"

Contact

David Charles Harvey, Professor
Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies
School of Culture and Society
Aarhus University
Mail: david.harvey@cas.au.dk
Mobile: +45 9352 1903