Cultural Contestation: Politics and Governance of Heritage
My Session Status
Every now and then AHDs are challenged, leading to what political scientists like Ross (2007; 2009) call "cultural contestations" between groups. These are surrounded by strong emotions, and can take the form of veritable "representational battles." According to various political scientists (e.g. Ross 2007; 2009), government often tries to stay out of cultural contestation, for it has little legitimacy in resolving such matters. Yet, as the available literature shows, government policy is often the root cause of such contestation. And even when it is not, government, whether it likes it or not, may find itself compelled to try and mitigate it. This necessity of government intervention is frequently fuelled by the use of heritage by marginalized groups.
In our view, political science pays ample attention to the ways in which cultural heritage leads to conflict, especially when heritage is used as a resource for identity formation. Yet, surprisingly enough, it has a tendency to downplay government's role (Ross 2007; 2009). Heritage studies often do acknowledge the role government plays when analyzing politics of heritage (Harrison 2010; Laurence 2010; Waterton 2010). Yet, many case-studies have a tendency to focus on cultural contestation foremost, without analyzing what goes on inside the state apparatus.
In this session we focus on the role government plays in cultural contestation, trying to truly get inside the world of policy-makers. We especially welcome papers which use decision-making theories and policy analysis tools from political science and governance studies to try and understand how government deals with it, and why it prefers certain solutions to others. The papers should therefore be expressly aimed at contributing to further development of theories explaining the various roles governments play in cultural contestation.
Sub Sessions
In current cultural heritage literature there is much emphasis on the uses of heritage in the construction of group identities. The (hi)stories attached to objects and traditions can have real social consequences in terms of inclusion and exclusion. Strong emotions stemming from such feelings of belonging or exclusion surrounding contested heritage frequently result in traditions becoming object of what political scientist Marc Howard Ross calls “cultural contestation” between groups in so...
The context of transition from authoritarian regimes to democracy post-1989 in Central and Eastern Europe impacted heritage practices, legislations, discourses, and institutions in various ways. Condemning the Communist Regime has played an important role in the agenda of the newly established governments, and it has taken various forms throughout all former communist countries in Europe, varying from parliamentary laws and resolutions, to general declarations of condemnation of the old sy...
Based on fieldwork in Xinjiang, China, this paper will investigate the ambiguities surrounding the government policies that seek to promote economic development and yet still preserve cultural heritage. By focusing on current efforts to safeguard Uyghur Dastan (epic oral narratives) and Meshrep (cultural gatherings) as examples of national intangible cultural heritage, this paper will explore how cultural heritage can effect policy and also how the state uses cultural heritage politically ...
With Co-author Caitlin Gordon-Walker Ethno-cultural groups in Canada use community centres as cultural spaces to promote a sense of belonging, make sense of their place within broader Canadian society, and strategically assert their voices in the public sphere. This paper explores the nature of the “heritage” and “citizenship” expressed in these communal spaces through their practices of public exhibition. It considers the deployment of such “ethnic media” from two perspecti...
This paper argues that political mobilization and enthusiasm is created as a consequence of profane strategies of disgust rather than of anger and revolutionary aims of destruction. In a critical heritage perspective, this case is both very common as it revolves around a reclaiming of a cityscape in a postcolonial setting as well as displays unusual political tactics and an occasion to get closer to the mobilization strategies and dissemination potential of Rhodes Must Fall (RMF) as a stud...
Two government-owned and managed heritage sites in Indiana, USA, offer an opportunity to explore the role of governing in adjudicating the competing paradigms of value and contested uses. Strawtown Koteewi is a Hamilton County park and Mounds State Park is part of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ state-wide park system. Each site has come under scrutiny in recent years. Strawtown Koteewi is one of the most significant sites for understanding the history of Native peoples in the...
While Afro-Cubans have benefitted, in general, from many social, economic and cultural policies implemented by the socialist government, their opportunities for political mobilization and the articulation of an Afro-Cuban cultural identity have been reduced by some of these same policies. In this paper, I will argue that the cultural policies that redefined Afro-Cuban religions as heritage illustrate a state logic of “inclusionary discrimination.” Furthermore, the paper will examine the “h...
This paper will depart from the idea that the making of cultural policy, and heritage policy included, takes place within a political system and in the interaction between the political system and external agents like heritage institutions (libraries, museums, archives), civil/voluntary organizations, business entrepreneurs, professional groups (for example curators and pedagogues) but even amateur idealists. Policy making can be defined as an independent variable that has impacts on herit...
