Antarctic Heritage as a Nation-Building Block since 1972

The thought of heritage in Antarctica stereotypically evokes images of disintegrating huts buried under snow and ice, and rock cairns scattered across the continent. It also follows that the challenges of heritage management in this polar region are limited to maintaining the physical longevity of these sites that find themselves in an extremely remote and inhospitable environment. But these historic remains are simultaneously vulnerable cultural artefacts and powerful political resources that nation-states can exploit to reinforce their national identities, both on and off the frozen continent. The use of heritage in Antarctica can be characterised as nation-building as it captures the significant overlap between cultural heritage and identity politics. New Polar Powers in particular can access this unconventional avenue of diplomacy to cement their image as a polar nation, and to direct how this image is viewed by both their international peers and internal constituents. The management of Antarctic heritage since 1972 demonstrates how states can utilise cultural heritage to signal a shift in their engagement, both unilateral and multilateral, with the polar region.