Critical Perspectives on Cultural Memory and Heritage

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Part I explores the connections between cultural memory, heritage, and the processes of construction, transformation, and destruction. Part II addresses urban heritage, focusing on themes such as mega-structural violence through African literary perspectives on infrastructure and modernity, the implications of the London 2012 Olympic Games on archaeology and urban landscapes, and the dynamics of erasure and change within heritage cities. It also examines social justice in reclaiming space and identity, the intentional amnesia surrounding urban development in Mediterranean islands, and the interplay of construction and destruction in contemporary Madrid. Part III delves into the violence associated with the denigration of Indigenous heritage, discussing Indigenous Latino heritage's challenges of destruction and revival, the impact of contract archaeology in the Brazilian Amazon, and the complexities of Indigenous Australian cultural heritages amid settler-colonial narratives. Part IV highlights the role of cultural memory in fostering community cohesion, with case studies from Syria and Bosnia, and critiques the myths surrounding the Allied bombing of historical sites. Part V emphasizes the significance of reclaiming heritage for social justice, particularly in the context of African American identity and the cyclical nature of remembering and forgetting in Taiwan. The epilogue reflects on the future of cultural heritag