Ephesos in a capitalist world

Abstract

In this paper, the use of the registered site of Ephesos for archaeological excavations and restorations that enliven tourism activities is analyzed as a response to mechanisms of the competitive market in our capitalist world, by putting the site to its socially most valued use and harvesting its productive capacity. The question remains whether the transformation of Ephesos into Turkey's most important tourism capital as such legitimizes its preservation as archaeological heritage, in the sense of public approval at large. The discussion is carried along the axis of property rights to decide whether or not a legitimacy crisis is being experienced in the Ephesos case. This is done by adopting Habermas' definition of crisis in accord with the idea of sustainability, as 'the phase of an illness in which it is decided whether or not the organism's self-healing powers are sufficient for recovery', to scrutinize the sustainability of preserving our archaeological heritage through tourism activities.