Pour une identité sud-atlantique : le patrimoine culturel dans la coopération bénino-brésilienne

The burgeoning literature on South-South development cooperation has focused heavily on economic, political, and military relations, but cultural exchanges also play a vital role in deepening ties between developing countries. Drawing inspiration from relational sociology, this article analyzes how cultural heritage preservation became a part of South-South cooperation. The case of technical cooperation between Brazil and Benin is examined in light of pre-existing cultural ties between those two societies. The research yields two key findings. First, that far from emerging in a vacuum, current state-to-state initiatives build upon previously established and less centralized cooperation efforts by non-state actors, especially individual artists, researchers, and civil society entities in the cultural field. Second, that the ideas about heritage preservation resulting from the interactions between the Brazilian actors and their Beninese counterparts have been incorporated into broader efforts to reframe the South Atlantic as the nexus of a shared identity between Brazilians and Africans. However, these efforts are subject to resource limitations and waning political commitments that cast doubt on the ability of Brazilian institutions to foment wider change in Benin’s cultural heritage field