Everyday heritage activism in Swat Valley : ethnographic reflections on a politics of hope

The Taliban insurgency and related cultural heritage iconoclasm exacerbated the challenges faced by Swat Valley communities in Northwest Pakistan. Activists within Swat alongside national and international NGOs are helping to reconstruct and protect pre-Islamic cultural heritage sites in the area, which is outlined here. The article highlights the role of heritage activism and counter-iconoclastic drive within Swat as a powerful social drive for reconciliation against a perceived bias that equates Pashtun with Taliban. Sense of place, identity and social and political change influenced both the rise of the Taliban and the reaction against them within Swat. The central argument in this article is shaped on ethnographic participatory research carried out by an Italian NGO, Pakistani archaeologists and activists and the writer, as part of a drive to make pre-Islamic heritage and cultural resource tourism sustainable in Swat in the wake of the post-Taliban reconstruction. Issues of identity and loyalty to insurgent groups have also affected other social groups across the globe. In this light, a discussion of the process of activism through heritage preservation and promotion using the Swat case study may also provide useful insights for other post-conflict communities elsewhere.