Institutionnalisation de l'archéologie subaquatique: Coopération, assistance et pratique archéologique dans les actions de l'UNESCO

The international concern for the management, study and protection of underwater cultural heritage is institutionalized around the 2001 UNESCO Convention, along with its guidelines and governing bodies, creating a complex framework that influences the governance of this heritage, as well as the way in which underwater archaeology is applied. This study analyses the actions carried out by the international community within the framework of UNESCO to improve the safeguarding of the underwater cultural heritage, as well as its systems of governance. To assess the effectiveness of these actions, the thesis mainly studies two cases of international assistance, in two regions where underwater archaeology is in an emerging phase: that in Panama due to the looting of the Spanish galleon San José, and another in Madagascar, concerning community and training activities around its underwater cultural heritage, especially on Sainte-Marie Island. The study of the effectiveness of these actions in the short, medium and long term, as well as their impact at the global, national and local levels will help us to identify the problems of implementation and thus to outline strategies for improvement. The thesis concludes that the short-term strategy and temporality of UNESCO's actions, as well as the lack of debate on how to move from an authorized heritage discourse - based mainly on Western heritage values - to a more ''Anthropological'' and multifocal paradigm compromises the very objectives that these actions are trying to achieve.