From engagement to empowerment: how heritage professionals can incorporate participatory methods in disaster recovery to better serve socially vulnerable groups

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article examines how the values, doctrines, and methodologies of orthodox heritage practice are incorporated into legal regulatory systems and thereby concentrate power in the hands of heritage professionals. The values, doctrines, and methodologies of orthodox heritage practice do not consider marginalization, segregation, and exploitation of traditionally disenfranchised groups. Socially vulnerable groups are at a particular disadvantage in post-disaster scenarios and are excluded from the planning and decision-making process for the recovery and preservation of their heritage. Using Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in the United States of America as an example, this article argues that orthodox heritage practice’s neglect of crucial social trends limit citizen empowerment and decision-making abilities for traditionally disenfranchised groups in heritage recovery, management, and planning after disaster. It goes on to propose a sequential mixed-method approach wherein heritage professionals can expand their roles from regulators to facilitators by adopting participatory methods. Though this article examines the issues of vulnerability and exclusion through a U.S. example, the authors hope that this article can open a deeper discussion of these themes in an international context.