ETHICS AND MILITARY HERITAGE: An Affect‑Centred Approach

In this chapter, we take up the oft-cited vulnerability of subjects, who are the result of a complex assemblage emergent between the human body and its material environments. Because the engineering of affective environments entails – in some small way – the remaking of the subject, it therefore entails ethical obligations. Our focus is on military heritage, which frequently aims to establish several – often contradictory – political subjectivities: horror at war’s suffering, pride in a particular nation’s military efforts, and respect for honourable opponents. That military heritage is political is undoubted, but considering the ethics of acting through the engineering of heritage environments has rarely been addressed. Using examples from the Australian War Memorial to London’s HMS Belfast to the Pearl Harbor memorial complex, we explore the unintended consequences of military heritage work, which is not only politically contentious but frequently escapes the intentions of those doing the work.