Building a New Heritage

At the heart of the European debate lies the tension between the idea of European unity and individual state identities and nationalisms. This volume provides some insight into this dichotomy by exploring the role of heritage in a new Europe. The main thesis is that a number of heritages may be shaped from the European past, depending on the purposes for which they are intended. Through different methods of management intervention, heritage can fulfill a variety of functions, becoming a major commercial resource in the form of the tourism industry, or being enlisted in the creation and maintainence of place identities. Contributors look at different perceptions of heritage by different cultures, and the social and political consequences of heritage planning. The nature of planning for emerging, spatially-fragmented state structures is also discussed. They raise the question of whether, through deliberate intervention, heritage will be employed in the shaping of a specifically European heritage interpretation.