Grassroots Values and Local Cultural Heritage in China

Official heritage projects often exacerbate displacement and dispossession of local communities, undermining grassroots values and cultural practices. This study reveals how 'heritage fever' can function as epistemic violence, eroding locals' ontological and affective ownership of their cultural lifeworlds. Through ethnographic case studies across China—including Mount Huangshan—researchers demonstrate that heritage discourses, driven by state, entrepreneurial, and translocal interests, frequently marginalize local communities, particularly in urban planning and space management. The findings highlight the need for heritage justice to balance global/national capitalism pressures with grassroots needs, emphasizing the importance of local agency in preserving cultural ecology and identity.

You, Z. (2023). Grassroots Values and Local Cultural Heritage in China. Journal of American Folklore, 136(540), 237–239. https://doi.org/10.5406/15351882.136.540.22