Acknowledgments
This small book has been a labor of love for both of us. We first met through a common acquaintance, Dr. Vassilis Tzevelekos, who is Lucas’s long-time friend and collaborator from their time together at the European University Institute. Ayla was one of Vassilis’s students at the University of Liverpool, and wanted to pursue a Ph.D. in cultural heritage law. Vassilis recommended Ayla reach out to Lucas, and she eventually did her Ph.D. at unsw Sydney, under the supervision of Lucas, Associate Professor Noam Peleg, and Professor Fleur Johns. So, to Vassilis for the collegiality and introductions, and to Noam and Fleur for the joint intellectual enterprise, our thanks.
Ayla started working on this project as a Research Assistant to what was meant to be an article. But Lucas felt she brought so much to the table that they ought to write it together. The topic was sufficiently far from Ayla’s Ph.D. to make it workable within the constraints of a then live supervisory relationship (so Lucas would not run the risk of plagiarizing Ayla’s research, mindful of the difference in power dynamics). What then restarted as a joint article gradually morphed into a joint book.
In preparing and workshopping this manuscript, we benefitted tremendously from the input of multiple audiences. We will not list everyone who gave us input by name, lest we leave people out. We duly acknowledge some particularly insightful and original feedback that led to specific changes to our argument in the book itself. But from an institutional perspective we are thankful to David Kosař and Lucas Carlos Lima for organizing dedicated workshops with their research groups where we could discuss this work. We were lucky to have a glimpse into the very special communities they have created and keep alive. Emerson Gabardo also facilitated opportunities to discuss this work as the writing came to a close. We are deeply thankful to audiences in Belo Horizonte (Brazil), Brno (Czechia), Curitiba (Brazil), San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Wellington (Aotearoa/New Zealand) for their input, and for giving us the opportunity to articulate, often as much to each other as to the audience, (parts of) the book’s argument.