TY - JOUR
T1 - The Janus-face of European heritage
T2 - Revisiting the rhetoric of Europe-making in EU cultural politics
AU - Niklasson, Elisabeth
N1 - Many thanks to the editor and to the two referees for their constructive comments. I am also grateful for the insightful questions and observations offered by my colleagues at the Stanford Archaeology Center in February 2016, where I presented a previous version of this article.
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research for this article has been funded in part by Stiftelsen Olle Engkvist Byggmästare.
PY - 2017/6
Y1 - 2017/6
N2 - Heritage sites and their stewards have been part of the project of European integration since the 1970s. Countless actions involving conservation, research and public outreach has been granted EU funding based on the European significance' of monuments and sites or the European added value' of project activities. This article argues that out of the long relationship between EU cultural politics and the domain of tangible heritage, there has grown a parallel approach to European belonging. By tracing acts of Europe-making in political statements used to justify financial support, and discussing their effect on co-funded archaeological projects, a Janus-face is identified. One side places authority in the past, articulating a European commonality through site characteristics or time periods. The other places authority in the present, promoting a more flexible understanding of heritage. Since the EU has increasingly (and unwillingly) come to share the rhetorical figure of European heritage' with anti-immigration groups calling for solidarity among native Europeans', the question of which side takes precedence is of great consequence.
AB - Heritage sites and their stewards have been part of the project of European integration since the 1970s. Countless actions involving conservation, research and public outreach has been granted EU funding based on the European significance' of monuments and sites or the European added value' of project activities. This article argues that out of the long relationship between EU cultural politics and the domain of tangible heritage, there has grown a parallel approach to European belonging. By tracing acts of Europe-making in political statements used to justify financial support, and discussing their effect on co-funded archaeological projects, a Janus-face is identified. One side places authority in the past, articulating a European commonality through site characteristics or time periods. The other places authority in the present, promoting a more flexible understanding of heritage. Since the EU has increasingly (and unwillingly) come to share the rhetorical figure of European heritage' with anti-immigration groups calling for solidarity among native Europeans', the question of which side takes precedence is of great consequence.
KW - Politics of belonging
KW - Europeanisation
KW - funding
KW - archaeology
KW - heritage values
U2 - 10.1177/1469605317712122
DO - 10.1177/1469605317712122
M3 - Article
VL - 17
SP - 138
EP - 162
JO - Journal of Social Archaeology
JF - Journal of Social Archaeology
SN - 1469-6053
IS - 2
ER -
