Heritage and the Need for Theory

Brief Definition of the Topic

Whether or not “heritage” should have a theoretical foundation or whether it should stand aloof merely as practice depends on scope and definition. Heritage has been traditionally defined as a thing, or more precisely as a collection of things, inherited from the past and given value by us, in the present. We value these “things” both for our own sake (e.g., to protect them and keep them around us as buildings, monuments, or artifacts) or for that of future generations. Heritage has also been defined as a set of processes (administrative and political, notably in the form of conventions and laws) by which we manage these things. And often, those processes go unchallenged or untested, at least by heritage practitioners. But heritage has recently come under critical review, leading some to identify it as exclusive and specialized under both of these interpretations, either because it is only “special things” which are given value (the rest being merely...