Politics, Policy and the Discourses of Heritage in Britain - Softcover

Waterton, E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 134936911X ISBN 13: 9781349369119

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010

Synopsis

This book offers a critique of the dominant conceptualization of heritage found in policy, which tends to privilege the white, middle and upper classes. Using Britain as an illustration, Waterton explores how and why recent policies continue to lean towards the predictable melding of cultural diversity with tendencies of assimilation.

About this title

Review:

'The diversity of contemporary societies, Britain among them, raises pressing and profound questions concerning social inclusion and exclusion and the dangers of equating multiculturalism and plurality with assimilation. Politics, Policy and the Discourses of Heritage in Britain, with its timely and carefully nuanced call for more complex narratives and representations of heritage as a medium of cultural policy, is essential reading for academics and policy-makers concerned with the ways in which heritage can both impede but also articulate the realisation of diverse and plural societies.'

- Brian Graham, Emeritus Professor of Human Geography, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland

'This timely volume is a significant theoretical contribution to contemporary heritage studies, and the critique of the Authorised Heritage Discourse. It is based on extensive empirical research, informed by wide reading in the social sciences, methodologically innovative and relentlessly and intelligently critical of modern heritage policy. Its focus on heritage policy and social inclusion in Britain will set the agenda on studying heritage policy not only in Britain but internationally. Politics, Policy and the Discourses of Heritage in Britain must be on the bookshelf of anyone with an interest in heritage, cultural policy and social inclusion.'

- Laurajane Smith, editor, International Journal of Heritage Studies, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Heritage and Museum Studies, Australian National University

Book Description:

An exploration of the dominant and elite conceptualization of heritage found in policy, where the policy sector has attempted to meet the challenges of diversity, multiculturalism and inclusion

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 134936911X
• ISBN 13: 9781349369119
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 271