Redefining collective heritage, identities, and belonging : Colonial statues in the times of Black Lives Matter
Turunen, J. (2023). Redefining collective heritage, identities, and belonging : Colonial statues in the times of Black Lives Matter. In S. Eckersley, & C. Vos (Eds.), Diversity of Belonging in Europe : Public Spaces, Contested Places, Cultural Encounters (pp. 236-252). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003191698-17
Authors
Date
2023Copyright
© 2023 the Authors
The death of George Floyd in May 2020 sparked a wave of protests across the United States, Europe, and beyond. This chapter investigates the protest in Bristol that lead to the fall of the statue of Edward Colston from the perspective of cultural heritage and belonging. I analyze online debates provoked by the protest – both for and against Colston – and compare them to the history of heritagization around Colston. There is a longstanding tension between heritage narratives that positions Colston as a local philanthropist and the more recent viewpoints that highlight his role in the transatlantic slave trade. As the analysis shows, this tension is mirrored both in the ways Colston’s name and image have been transcribed to Bristolian landscapes and in the debates that emerged after the statue was forcibly taken down by protesters. In this context, the fall of Colston can be perceived as an attempt to demand public recognition and space for Bristolians, whose belonging had been marginalized by earlier heritage practices around Colston.
...
Publisher
RoutledgeParent publication ISBN
978-1-032-04238-1Is part of publication
Diversity of Belonging in Europe : Public Spaces, Contested Places, Cultural EncountersKeywords
Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/202851576
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
Related funder(s)
Research Council of FinlandFunding program(s)
Academy Project, AoFAdditional information about funding
This work was supported by the Academy of Finland Grant 330620 EU Heritage Diplomacy and the Dynamics of Inter-Heritage Dialogue (HERIDI).License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Black lives matter : rakenteellisen rasismin äärellä
Turunen, Johanna (Valtiotieteellinen yhdistys, 2020)Syrjinnänvastaiset protestit ovat nostaneet rasismin historian huomion keskipisteeksi eri puolilla maailmaa. Patsaiden ja muiden kulttuuristen symboleiden sijaan mielenosoituksen perimmäisenä kohteena on laajalle levinnyt ... -
The Royal Prerogative redefined : parliamentary debate on the role of the British Parliament in large-scale military deployments, 1982-2003
Häkkinen, Teemu (University of Jyväskylä, 2014) -
Suomalaisuuden ja toiseuden rajamailla : eksotisointi Gallen-Kallelan Museon Afrikka-kokoelman näyttelyhistoriassa
Turunen, Johanna; Viita-aho, Mari (Suomen historiallinen seura ry, 2020)Museoilla on ollut historiallisesti keskeinen rooli kansallisuuden ja kansallisen kuvaston tuottajina ja kulttuuriperinnön ylläpitäjinä. Osana kansallisen identiteetin rakentamisprojektia museot ovat osallistuneet myös ... -
Mnemonic ‘Boundary Objects’ and Postcolonial Restitution : The Story of Three Greenlandic Tupilait
Zolkos, Magdalena (Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2023)Drawing on new materialist and object-centered historical criticism, this article analyses colonial and post-colonial discourses of the Greenlandic figurines of the mythical being of ill-wishing and revenge, tupilak (plural ... -
European cultural heritage and the politics of decolonisation
Turunen, Johanna (Taidehistorian seura, 2022)