Human-Centered Cultural Heritage Conservation Beyond the Material Paradigm: A Marxian Framework and Evidence from Xidi Village, China

A paradigm shift from material-centered to human-centered cultural heritage conservation is proposed, integrating Marxian theory with collective memory and community agency. The study diagnoses alienating effects of traditional conservation—ossification of practice, reification of social relations, and narrowed human needs—and offers a dynamic framework emphasizing adaptive reuse, knowledge sharing, and ecological wholeness. Using Xidi Village, China, as a case study, the research demonstrates how festivals, rituals, and community governance can reconnect heritage with daily life, collective identity, and social relations without reducing it to static fabric or abstract theory.

Cheng, K., & Du, K. (2026). Human-Centered Cultural Heritage Conservation Beyond the Material Paradigm: A Marxian Framework and Evidence from Xidi Village, China. Conservation, 6(3), 83. https://doi.org/10.3390/conservation6030083