The Impact of wars and armed conflicts on the World Cultural Heritage through the lens of P.A. Sorokin’s integral macrosociological theory

Abstract

The choice of methodology for studying the impact of wars and armed conflicts on World Cultural Heritage is determined by their essential characteristics. The historical dynamics of the status and social functions of World Cultural Heritage sites during wars and armed conflicts reflect the process of disintegration of religious, moral, legal, and other values within a given society in cases of civil war or revolution, or among several states in cases of interstate wars and conflicts. Pitirim Sorokin’s Integral Macrosociological Theory, which encompasses the sociocultural transformations of Western civilization over twenty-five centuries of its history, is uniquely suited for examining the historical dynamics of World Cultural Heritage. The most devastating wars in human history represent conflicts and transitions from one form of culture to another. On a local scale, wars arise when a rapid and radical transformation of supreme values occurs within one part of society, while another either rejects these changes or moves in the opposite direction. These transformations directly affect World Cultural Heritage sites, which may not only be destroyed or lost during wars and armed conflicts but also undergo profound transformations, including changes in their status and functions. Based on Sorokin’s methodological framework, major armed conflicts of 1950–2020 were identified, characterized by prolonged hostilities, large-scale human losses, and verified cases of damage to World Cultural Heritage sites. The analysis of the collected data made it possible to draw both methodological and substantive conclusions. It was demonstrated that periods of large-scale military conflicts coincide with phases of deep sociocultural transformation, when dominant value systems and cultural forms undergo change. During such transitional epochs, World Cultural Heritage sites become particularly vulnerable: they face destruction, loss of authenticity, or transformation of their cultural meaning. This confirms the interrelation between the disintegration of a society’s supreme values and the risks posed to the material and spiritual heritage of humanity.