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The number of cultural parks has been steadily increasing in recent years throughout the world. But what is a cultural park? This book provides a detailed answer to this question and sets out the basis for an academic debate that moves beyond the technical narratives that have prevailed to date. It is important to open up the topic to academic scrutiny given that cultural parks are becoming widespread devices being employed by different institutions and social groups to manage and enhance cultural and natural heritage assets and landscapes. The main problem in dealing with this topic is the predominant lack of theory-grounded, critical reflection in the literature about cultural parks. These...
A radical critique of the heritage industries.
Cuban Cultural Heritage explores the role that cultural heritage and museums played in the construction of a national identity in postcolonial Cuba. Starting with independence from Spain in 1898 and moving through Cuban-American rapprochement in 2014, Pablo Alonso Gonz lez illustrates how political and ideological shifts have influenced ideas about heritage and how, in turn, heritage has been used by different social actors to reiterate their status, spread new ideologies, and consolidate political regimes. Unveiling the connections between heritage, power, and ideology, Alonso Gonz lez delves into the intricacies of Cuban history, covering key issues such as Cuba's cultural and political relationships with Spain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and so-called Third World countries; the complexities of Cuba's status as a postcolonial state; and the potential future paths of the Revolution in the years to come. This volume offers a detailed look at the function and place of cultural heritage under socialist states.
The role of cultural heritage and museums in constructing national identity in postcolonial Cuba During Fidel Castro's rule, Cuban revolutionaries coopted and reinterpreted the previous bourgeois national narrative of Cuba, aligning it with revolutionary ideology through the use of heritage and public symbols. By changing uses of the past in the present, they were able to shift ideologies, power relations, epistemological conceptions, and economic contexts into the Cuba we know today. Cuban Cultural Heritage explores the role that cultural heritage and museums played in the construction of a national identity in postcolonial Cuba. Starting with independence from Spain in 1898 and moving thro...
This book will suggest new agendas for identity and heritage studies by means of presenting contentious issues facing archaeology and heritage management in a globalized world. The book is not only present the variability of heritage objectives and experiences in the New and Old World, and opens a discussion, in a shrinking world, to look beyond national and regional contexts. If the heritage sector and archaeology are to remain relevant in our contemporary world and the near future, there are a number of questions concerning the politics, practices and narratives related to heritage and identity that must be addressed. Questions of relevance in an affluent, cosmopolitan setting are at odds with those relevant for a region emerging from civil war or ethnic strife, or a national minority battling oppression or ethnic cleansing. A premise is that heritage represents a broad scope of empirically and theoretically sound interpretations – that heritage is a response to contemporary forces, as much as data. It is therefore necessary constantly to evaluate what is scientifically accurate as well as what is valid and relevant and what can have a contemporary impact.
Archaeology has an often contentious relationship with the consequences of economic development. Tourism, urban development and natural resource exploitation have generated adverse impact on the archaeological record, indigenous cultures and local communities worldwide. Over the decades, international conventions, national laws and corporate ventures have sought to address the problems, but too often they have fallen short and immense challenges remain. Looking ahead, the contributions to this volume constitute a global conversation on the most salient issue facing archaeology as it interacts with economic development: Is collision with development still the best course? Or, is a more effective strategy to pursue collaborative relationships with the forces of economic and social change?
A major contribution to our understanding of intellectual exchanges between Britain and Spain in the early twentieth century
A Theory of Cultural Heritage provides a structured and comprehensive picture of the concept of cultural heritage (CH) and its theoretical and practical derivatives. Arguing that the expanded notion of CH brings with it a number of unresolved conceptual tensions, Muñoz-Viñas summarizes the strong and weak points of the current discourse. Gathering together a range of existing views on cultural heritage and its practices, the book provides a dynamic overview of the theoretical underpinnings behind the notion and also considers how these could evolve in the future. By analyzing the conflicting meanings of the term ‘cultural heritage’ and establishing a more nuanced ontological taxonomy, this book challenges some well-established views and outlines a framework that will allow the reader to better grasp the theoretical and practical complexities of this fascinating notion. A Theory of Cultural Heritage is a thought-provoking and valuable contribution to the existing literature, written in an engaging, clear style that will make it accessible to academics, students and heritage professionals alike.
Long dismissed as the domain of hobbyists and obsessives, historical reenactment—the dramatization of past events using costumed actors and historical props—has only in recent years attracted serious attention from scholars. Drawing on examples from around the world, Historical Reenactment offers a fascinating, interdisciplinary exploration of this cultural phenomenon. With particular attention to reenactment’s social and pedagogical dimensions, it develops a robust definition of what the practice constitutes, considers what methodological approaches are most appropriate, and places it alongside museums and memorial sites as an object of analysis.