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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.
List of contents
1. Cultural Contestation: Identity, Heritage and the Role of Government (Jeroen Rodenberg and Pieter Wagenaar).- 2. Cultural Contestation in China: Ethnicity, Identity and the State (Christina Maags).- 3. Ethnicity, Heritage and Human Rights in the Union of Myanmar (William Logan).- 4. The Obliteration of Heritage of the Jumma People and the Role of Government: The Story of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Rumana Hashem).- 5. Impediment or Resource?: Contextualisation of the Shared Built Heritage in Turkey (Deniz Ikiz Kaya and Mehmet Calhan).- 6. From Underworld to Museum Showcase: Afro-Cuban Religions, Heritage Production and Cuban Cultural Policy (Michelle A. Tisdel).- 7. Dispossessing the Wilderness: Contesting Canada's National Park Narrative (Desiree Valadares).- 8. Famagusta, Cyprus: Cultural Heritage at the Center of Political and Cultural Contestation (Carlos Jaramillo).- 9. The War over Nagorno-Karabakh and Its Lasting Effects on Cultural Heritage (Marja van Heese).- 10. Dealing with a Difficult Past: Japan, South Korea and the UNESCO World Heritage List (Ioan Trifu).- 11. Lost Temporalities and Imagined Histories: The Symbolic Violence in the Greek-Macedonian Naming Dispute (Biljana Volchevska).- 12. Of, by and for Which People? Government and Contested Heritage in the American Midwest (Elizabeth Kryder-Reid and Larry J. Zimmerman).- 13. Ethno-Nationalism Revisited?: A Journey through the New Estonian National Museum (Eesti Rahva Muuseum) (Emilia Pawlusz).- 14. Acting in a National Play: Governmental Roles during the Zwarte Piet Contestation (Pieter Wagenaar and Jeroen Rodenberg).- 15. Conclusion: Roles Governments Play in Shaping the Symbolic Landscape (Jeroen Rodenberg and Pieter Wagenaar).
About the author
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.
Summary
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.
