A Companion to Heritage Studies (Logan, Nic Craith, and Kockel, eds.)

C Kurt Dewhurst

doi:10.14434/mar.v10i2.21767

Abstract

This work is a book review considering the title A Companion to Heritage Studies, edited by William Logan, Máiread Nic Craith, and Ullrich Kockel.

Highlights

The remarkable emergence of field of heritage studies over the past five decades has had a significant impact on cultural practice and cultural politics. This evolution has fostered a growing body of scholarship that is illuminating the concept of heritage and the critical role it plays in community life around the globe
Organized in three parts—“Expanding Heritage,” “Using and Abusing Heritage,” and “Recasting Heritage”—the editors have assembled a series of essays that capture the often confounding challenges of creating effective cultural heritage policies and the complex impact that these policies have when put into practice
What is most welcome here is the presence of heritage scholars from multiple disciplines who present case studies in thoughtful and perceptive ways that convey the challenges of implementing contemporary heritage policy and practice

Summary

Introduction

The remarkable emergence of field of heritage studies over the past five decades has had a significant impact on cultural practice and cultural politics. Organized in three parts—“Expanding Heritage,” “Using and Abusing Heritage,” and “Recasting Heritage”—the editors have assembled a series of essays that capture the often confounding challenges of creating effective cultural heritage policies and the complex impact that these policies have when put into practice. What is most welcome here is the presence of heritage scholars from multiple disciplines (including museum studies) who present case studies in thoughtful and perceptive ways that convey the challenges of implementing contemporary heritage policy and practice.

Results

Conclusion