Heritage and Democracy

Examining cultural heritage within the context ofdemocracy

Culturalheritage is a powerful tool in society, capable of producing both social harmsas well as social goods and benefits, which can be distributed unevenly via politicalchannels. Reaching across disciplines and national boundaries, this volume examinescultural heritage work within the context of both democratic institutions anddemocratic practices, including participatory, deliberative, and directdemocratic practices. Case studies highlight how democratic politics andcultural heritage shape, impact, and depend upon one another.

Therising crisis of democracy across the globe brings these dynamics into sharprelief. The unfinished and fragile nature of democratic politics shines aspotlight on both its shortcomings and its aspirational potential. This is aparadox that heritage practitioners and stakeholders navigate daily, serving asboth critics and collaborators of democracy. At the same time that heritagepractice embraces participatory approaches, it must also address the challengeof reconciling multiple, often unequal, and frequently incompatible claims forcontrol over heritage. Grappling with democracy’s crises also increasingly meansrecognizing the power of heritage to reinforce or undermine democracy.

Theseessays ask: What are the democratic motives of heritage practice? Why dodemocracies need heritage? How do the social and cultural referents of heritageinfuse democratic practices? Emphasizing the interplay of heritage anddemocracy in practices and institutions across scales of governance, Heritage and Democracy pinpoints adynamic that has not been widely examined.

Contributors: Stacey L. Camp | Jon D. Daehnke | Kasey Diserens Morgan | Rachel AmaAsaa Engmann | Dorothy Ann Engmann | Bobbie Foster Bhusari | Peter G. Gould | ErinA. Hogg | Kathryn Lafrenz Samuels | Magda E. Mankel | Chelsea H. Meloche | GeorgeP. Nicholas | Ellen J. Platts | Jasmine Reid | Paul A. Shackel | John R. Welch 

Avolume in the series Cultural Heritage Studies, edited by Paul A. Shackel