Cultural Contestation
Description
Heritage practices often lead to social exclusion, as such practices can favor certain values over others. In some cases, exclusion from a society's symbolic landscape can spark controversy, or rouse emotion so much so that they result in cultural contestation. Examples of this abound, but few studies explicitly analyze the role of government in these instances. In this volume, scholars from a variety of academic backgrounds examine the various and often conflicting roles governments play in these processes-and governments do play a role. They act as authors and authorizers of the symbolic landscape, from which societal groups may feel excluded. Yet, they also often attempt to bring parties together and play a mitigating role.
Reviews / Votes
"This exciting volume continues a long tradition of scholarship on the politics of heritage, but brings new insights by focusing attention on places, contexts and moments too often ignored in heritage studies. Chapters on Central Asia, Cyprus, Cuba, Bangladesh and Estonia really help to open up debates about the complex appropriations of the past by governments and other actors. The volume valuably contributes to our understanding of the ongoing role the state plays in curating heritage and memory, and the consequences this has for different social actors." (Tim Winter, Professor of Critical Heritage Studies, University of Western Australia)"It is really nice to see such interdisciplinary conversation developing between heritage studies and political science. Significantly, this work has a capacity to deliver on the promise of 'criticality' within recent research on cultural heritage, through a range of tightly focused case studies that have global appeal." (David C. Harvey, Professor of Critical Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark)
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Persons
Jeroen Rodenberg is Lecturer in the Department of Political Science & Public Administration at the VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He specializes in governance and policy of cultural heritage.
Pieter Wagenaar is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science & Public Administration at the VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He specializes in the history of governance and the governance of history.