Critical Heritages of Europe
About the Book Series
The Critical Heritages of Europe series seeks to explore the cultural and social politics of the European past in the present. Bridging theoretical and empirical research, the series accommodates broad understandings of Europe – a shifting and historically mutable entity, made both of internal tensions and exogenous encounters, re-imaginings and influences. ‘Heritage’ too is taken as an expansive paradigm, made in myriad practices where the past is valorised for the present, from folk traditions to museums and memorials, the management of historic sites and traditions, and everyday matters such as education, political discourse, home life, food consumption and people’s relations with place.
Books in the series engage with European heritages in critical times – in all senses – when Europe and mobilizations of its heritages and memories are called upon to solve problems, and when contests over the meanings of the past are part of wider social and political relations and tensions. Heritage practices are variously informed by civil and uncivil visions, the politics of difference and co-presence, difficult pasts, relations with the ‘outside’, borders, margins, and migrations. Critical questions include:
- What is the European past made to do in the present and for the future?
- What counts as European heritage? To whom, and why?
- How and why do relationships with, and attitudes to, the past inform identity positions, social orders and moral values in, or in relation to, Europe?
- When and where in the (wider) world do European heritages configure identities?
- What are the contemporary meanings and effects of global encounters, mobilities and trajectories in which Europe has played roles?
- What theoretical and critical perspectives can be articulated to contribute new understandings of European heritages? How might these be made relevant for current and future heritage practice?
- What are the relations between theory, criticality, ethics and heritage practice in the European dimension?
Cultural Landscapes of Energy: Constructing Histories of Power, Prosperity, and Decline in Europe
1st Edition
Edited
By Corinne Geering, Torsten Meyer
January 27, 2026
This volume explores the contested heritage of landscapes impacted by energy production. It offers a comparative perspective across Europe on different energy resources and reveals the hidden histories behind current efforts to revalorise the industrial heritage of energy production. Including case...
Viking Heritage and History in Europe: Practices and Re-creations
1st Edition
Edited
By Sara Ellis Nilsson, Stefan Nyzell
November 28, 2025
Viking Heritage and History in Europe presents new research and perspectives on the use of the Vikings in public history, especially in relation to museums, re-creation, and re-enactment in a European context. Taking a critical heritage approach, the volume provides new insights into the ...
Revoicing Intangible Cultural Heritage: Perspectives from the Margins of Europe
1st Edition
Edited
By Laura Hodsdon, Valts Ernštreits, Kadri Koreinik, Sjoerd-Jeroen Moenandar
June 13, 2025
Revoicing Intangible Cultural Heritage draws upon an original, wide-ranging dataset to show that the dynamics and ethics of participation in European national minority cultures’ intangible cultural heritage (ICH) are more nuanced than has previously been articulated. Arguing for an approach to ...
Decolonizing Colonial Heritage: New Agendas, Actors and Practices in and beyond Europe
1st Edition
Edited
By Britta Timm Knudsen, John Oldfield, Elizabeth Buettner, Elvan Zabunyan
May 31, 2023
Decolonizing Colonial Heritage explores how different agents practice the decolonization of European colonial heritage at European and extra-European locations. Assessing the impact of these practices, the book also explores what a new vision of Europe in the postcolonial present could look like. ...
Islam and Heritage in Europe: Pasts, Presents and Future Possibilities
1st Edition
Edited
By Katarzyna Puzon, Sharon Macdonald, Mirjam Shatanawi
January 09, 2023
Islam and Heritage in Europe provides a critical investigation of the role of Islam in Europe’s heritage. Focusing on Islam, heritage and Europe, it seeks to productively trouble all of these terms and throw new light on the relationships between them in various urban, national and transnational ...
Diversity of Belonging in Europe: Public Spaces, Contested Places, Cultural Encounters
1st Edition
Edited
By Susannah Eckersley, Claske Vos
December 27, 2022
Diversity of Belonging in Europe analyzes conflicting notions of identity and belonging in contemporary Europe. Addressing the creation, negotiation, and (re) use of diverse spaces and places of belonging, the book examines their fascinating complexities in the context of a changing Europe. Taking ...
Creating and Governing Cultural Heritage in the European Union: The European Heritage Label
1st Edition
By Tuuli Lähdesmäki, Viktorija L.A. Čeginskas, Sigrid Kaasik-Krogerus, Katja Mäkinen, Johanna Turunen
December 13, 2021
Creating and Governing Cultural Heritage in the European Union: The European Heritage Label provides an interdisciplinary examination of the ways in which European cultural heritage is created, communicated, and governed via the new European Heritage Label scheme.Drawing on ethnographic field ...
European Memory in Populism: Representations of Self and Other
1st Edition
Edited
By Chiara De Cesari, Ayhan Kaya
June 30, 2021
European Memory in Populism explores the links between memory and populism in contemporary Europe. Focusing on circulating ideas of memory, especially European memory, in contemporary populist discourses, the book also analyses populist ideas in sites and practices of remembrance that usually tend ...
Food Heritage and Nationalism in Europe
1st Edition
Edited
By Ilaria Porciani
June 30, 2021
Food Heritage and Nationalism in Europe contends that food is a fundamental element of heritage, and a particularly important one in times of crisis. Arguing that food, taste, cuisine and gastronomy are crucial markers of identity that are inherently connected to constructions of place, tradition ...
Heritage and Festivals in Europe: Performing Identities
1st Edition
Edited
By Ullrich Kockel, Cristina Clopot, Baiba Tjarve, Máiréad Nic Craith
April 01, 2021
Heritage and Festivals in Europe critically investigates the purpose, reach and effects of heritage festivals. Providing a comprehensive and detailed analysis of comparatively selected aspects of intangible cultural heritage, the volume demonstrates how such heritage is mobilised within events that...
Populism and Heritage in Europe: Lost in Diversity and Unity
1st Edition
By Ayhan Kaya
April 01, 2021
Populism and Heritage in Europe explores popular discourses about European and national heritage that are being used by specific political actors to advance their agendas and to prevent minority groups from being accepted into European society. Investigating what kind of effect the politics of fear...
Dimensions of Heritage and Memory: Multiple Europes and the Politics of Crisis
1st Edition
Edited
By Christopher Whitehead, Susannah Eckersley, Mads Daugbjerg, Gönül Bozoğlu
March 31, 2021
Dimensions of Heritage and Memory is a landmark contribution on the politics of the past in Europe today. The book explores the meanings of heritage in a time of crisis, when the past permeates social and political divisions, identity contests and official projects to forge a European community. ...