Search results for " heritage."
showing 10 items of 1085 documents
Politics of solidarity in the context of European heritage : The cases of the European Solidarity Centre and Hambach Castle
2019
This article explores the politics of solidarity in the framework of constructing a common cultural heritage of the European Union. The politics of solidarity stems from the notion of solidarity embedded to European heritage. We use critical heritage studies as a theoretical approach that understands heritage as an inherently dissonant social construct, produced by various actors according to political, economic and social interests. The study analyses empirical data from the European Heritage Label (EHL), a flagship heritage action of the EU that communicates shared values and a sense of identification to European citizens. Our empirical data includes ethnographic observation as well as in…
Politics of tangibility, intangibility, and place in the making of a European cultural heritage in EU heritage policy
2016
The EU has recently launched several initiatives that aim to foster the idea of a common European cultural heritage. The notion of a European cultural heritage in EU policy discourse is extremely abstract, referring to various ideas and values detached from physical locations or places. Nevertheless the EU initiatives put the abstract policy discourse into practice and concretize its notions about a European cultural heritage. A common strategy in this practice is ‘placing heritage’ – affixing the idea of a European cultural heritage to certain places in order to turn them into specific European heritage sites. The materialisation of a European cultural heritage and the production of physic…
‘Where the F… is Vuotso?’ : heritage of Second World War forced movement and destruction in a Sámi reindeer herding community in Finnish Lapland
2017
In this paper we discuss the heritage of the WWII evacuation and the so-called ‘burning of Lapland’ within a Sámi reindeer herding community, and assess how these wartime experiences have moulded, and continue to mould, the ways people memorialise and engage with the WWII material remains. Our focus is on the village of Vuotso, which is home to the southernmost Sámi community in Finland. The Nazi German troops established a large military base there in 1941, and the Germans and the villagers lived as close neighbours for several years. In 1944 the villagers were evacuated before the outbreak of the Finno-German ‘Lapland War’ of 1944–1945, in which the German troops annihilated their militar…
Politics of affect in the EU heritage policy discourse : an analysis of promotional videos of sites awarded with the European Heritage Label
2017
European cultural heritage is discussed with affective rhetoric in current European Union (EU) policy discourse. How does affect contribute to the meaning-making of a European cultural heritage and how are the workings of affect used by the EU to promote certain meanings of heritage and effect thereupon? The analysis focuses on recent promotional videos of sites awarded with the European Heritage Label by the EU. In the videos, affective textual, visual, audible, and narrative tropes intertwine with the tropes of EU policy rhetoric, increasing its capacity to impact and ‘move’ the receivers. The ethos of a European cultural heritage in the videos is based on a paradox: the history of the se…
Traditional Craft Skills in the Contemporary Latvian Rural Environment
2016
This article intends to give an insight into what place the traditional craft skills occupy in the contemporary Latvian rural environment, using as a point of observation the activities of the ‘Meet your Master!’ event, organised by the Latvian National Centre for Culture. The interest of both the society and the individuals in focusing on the traditional cultural heritage is encouraged by the desire for expressing their cultural identity in today's cosmopolitan world. The same motivation prompts the use of traditional knowledge in rural tourism, in the activities of individual manufacturers etc. Traditional skills are the basis for mutual interaction among the community members and a meani…
Latvia's Architectural Heritage and its Protection 1880–1940
2006
Abstract The subject of this article is the protection of architectural monuments in present-day Latvia from the second half of the nineteenth century up to the year 1940. The intention here is to look at these activities as part of the process that shaped the national identity of the Baltic Germans, the Latvians, and of Latvia's Russians, each of whom were influential in economic, cultural and political issues in Latvia to varying degrees during the period. In accordance with the well-known historical background of the times, my account is divided into two parts, investigating how the modification of mentalities affected the preservation of historical buildings in the Baltic provinces from…
Cultural policies in the South of Europe after the global economic crisis: is there a Southern model within the framework of European convergence?
2018
In the twenty-first century, culture has become a valuable resource for European countries, particularly those with abundant cultural heritage, as is the case in Southern European countries such as...
UNESCO and cultural diversity: democratisation, commodification or governmentalisation of culture?
2012
The Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was first adopted by its member states in October 2005. The document defines UNESCO's general principles and conceptualisations regarding culture, cultural diversity and expressions. In order to better manage culture, cultural expressions refer above all to goods and services of the markets, but another, more universally humanitarian and participatory aspect is also present. For the United Nations member states and especially countries that ratified it, the Convention offers policy and legal guidelines to support all forms o…
Rhetoric of unity and cultural diversity in the making of European cultural identity
2011
The fundamental aim of the cultural policy of the European Union (EU) is to emphasize the obvious cultural diversity of Europe, while looking for some underlying common elements which unify the various cultures in Europe. Through these common elements, the EU policy produces ‘an imagined cultural community’ of Europe which is ‘united in diversity’, as one of the slogans of the Union states. This discourse characterizes various documents which are essential to the EU cultural policy, such as the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Agenda for Culture and the EU’s decision on the European Capital of Culture program. In addition, the discourse is applied to the production of cultural events in Europ…
Street food in Palermo: Traditions and market perspectives
2022
Street food protects and promotes the history and tradition of a place. The origin of street foods largely relies on the cultural and natural landscapes that surround the environments where they are prepared and sold. Street food illustrates a culinary heritage that is embedded in the ways of life of people, both residents and visitors. Drawing on a qualitative study, the researchers conducted ten interviews with street food vendors in the city of Palermo (Sicily, Italy) in order to understand this growing phenomenon in urban environments of the Mediterranean, where the street food also brings the customers to ancient times. Results show the strategy of the entrepreneurs as street food vend…