The contested nature of heritage and the dilemmas of building cultural citizenship: the case of Italy

Cultural heritage, when mobilized without critical examination of its conceptual limits and internal differences, risks becoming exclusionary. This study highlights the contested nature of heritage and public memory, particularly in disaster-stricken cities like L’Aquila and Naples. It argues that strategic essentialism is necessary to effectively counter undesirable reconstruction programs or resist threats of speculation and evictions in historic centers. The research draws on theoretical frameworks to expose how disparate understandings of heritage challenge the grandiloquent posturing of public intellectuals who view architectural patrimony as a cornerstone for national cultural citizenship.

Dines, N. (2015). The contested nature of heritage and the dilemmas of building cultural citizenship: the case of Italy. In Sapere l’Europa (pp. sapere d’Europa). Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia. https://doi.org/10.14277/6969-052-5/SE-3-8