Heritage Politics and Identity

This course primarily covers aspects of social and cultural sustainability and focuses on cultural heritage as a political power in relation to identity and belonging. The course provides you with a better understanding of the complex relationships between cultural heritage and people in a society, especially those relationships involving authority and power. It will also provide you with tools for unpacking these complexities through critical approaches to heritage and conservation, as expressed in contemporary debates and exemplified by case studies from different parts of the world. During the course, you will encounter heritage in relation to nationalism, colonialism and postcolonialism. Special emphasis is given to balancing the dominating Eurocentric material-focused heritage discourse, by presenting alternative approaches to and foundations for heritage, and exploring issues such as tangible and intangible heritage, identity, authenticity, ownership, and cultural and minority as well as human rights.