Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage· 2016Q2
Wrestling with the Social Value of Heritage: Problems, Dilemmas and Opportunities
- 344citations
- Q2SCImago
- 2016year
Short summary
Traditional, expert-led heritage assessments fail to capture the dynamic, embodied nature of social value, which is better understood through qualitative social research and community participation.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Social value in heritage is fluid, culturally specific, and created through experience and practice.
- Expert-driven significance assessments fail to capture the dynamic and embodied nature of social value.
- Qualitative social research methods (interviewing, ethnography) are better suited for assessing social values.
- Community participatory practices are essential for capturing the fluid processes of valuing the historic environment.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
In this article I consider the problems, dilemmas and opportunities surrounding approaches to social value in heritage conservation and management. Social value encompasses the significance of the historic environment to contemporary communities, including people's sense of identity, belonging and place, as well as forms of memory and spiritual association. These are fluid, culturally specific forms of value created through experience and practice. Furthermore, whilst some align with authorized heritage discourses, others are created through unofficial and informal modes of engagement. I argue that traditional, expert-driven modes of significance assessment fail to capture the dynamic, iterative and embodied nature of social value. Social research methods, such as qualitative interviewing and rapid ethnographic assessment, are more suited to assessing social values. However, these are best combined with community participatory practices, if we wish to capture the fluid processes of valuing the historic environment.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage, 2016 · DOI ↗
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Field: Archeology (Arts and Humanities)
ArcheologyArts and Humanities