ABSTRACT
The management of Great Zimbabwe as a national and international heritage site has become increasingly 'professionalised' since independence in 1980. Mirroring the continued dominance of 'academic' representations of Great Zimbabwe's past, its management as 'heritage' did not witness a radical rupture in the movement from colonial to independent state. After a brief period of uncertainty that followed independence, National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) very rapidly established itself, with international assistance from UNESCO and other international institutions, as a thoroughly 'professional' and 'modern' heritage organisation. Great Zimbabwe's role as an international heritage and tourist site has become solidified through its status as a World Heritage Site. World Heritage status allows NMMZ to appeal to not only the national but also the international significance of the site to justify its policies and interventions. The complexities of local communities and the competing attachments at stake the language, concepts and practices of 'local community participation' that heritage discourse generally, and NMMZ specifically.
