Reply: What Can Give Us Hope

I genuinely appreciate the diverse but equally interesting comments submitted by my colleagues, adding a variety of additional perspectives to the discussion informed by different backgrounds and personal viewpoints. It is not self-evident that we make time to engage with one another’s ideas and offer thoughtful responses. To my colleagues: thank you for doing so, and to the editors: thank you for making it possible. Such an exchange is exactly what I had hoped for: stimulating a broad academic debate among the contributors to this discussion and eventually perhaps also among all those sufficiently intrigued by the topic to consider carefully our arguments as published. Down the line, I hope this will mobilise more archaeologists, heritage scholars, and heritage practitioners to raise their voices for peace in our shared contemporary world and on the planet we jointly inhabit, with many challenges to be addressed by all humans together rather than as adversaries and enemies.