Introduction—Ethnography as Medium for a Transdisciplinary Approach to Heritage

Drawing on historical and contemporary ethnographic research, this edited volume addresses tangible and intangible forms of urban heritage, their impact on urban policies and their consequences for urban life, both at individual and social levels. The chapters look at culturally diverse concepts of heritage in their social and historical context, bringing out the potential conflict that cultural memories, ideological approaches and selective policies may generate and the related processes of social and political legitimation. They address a vast array of socially and politically significant aspects in the expanding field of heritage studies. Focusing on contemporary and historical urban ethnographies, the book offers different perspectives on how culturally driven urban policies interlink with power dynamics. It contributes to our understanding of how memory practices and heritage policies may reflect changing historical narratives, political and ideological projects and the (re) definition of social identities.