Chapter by Jona Schwerer and Sybille Frank.
In: Bonacker, T., Daase, C., Driedger, J.J., Lam Phương, N.P., & Pfister, J. (Eds.). (2026). Routledge Handbook on Transformations of Political Violence (1st ed.) p. 381-395.
This chapter introduces the concepts of heritage and heritage (un)making as analytical lenses through which to examine the transformations of present interpretations of past political violence in urban spaces. It establishes heritage as a contested field for the production and representation of a meaningful shared past in the present, which ties this past to specific places and explores the role of heritage (un)making in processes of transforming and negotiating interpretations of past political violence. As heritage symbolizes what communities want to keep as part of their memories and identities, the (un)making of it is a political act. At the same time, acts of political violence imbue places with a difficult heritage. The chapter discusses how heritage and heritage (un)making are related to political violence and presents the concepts of difficult heritage, heritage from below, heritage activism, and urban fallism from the field of heritage studies that bring together (political) violence, heritage, and its (un)making. Furthermore, the chapter establishes urban space as a particularly interesting field for the analysis of contested processes of heritage (un)making, as it is characterized by both a rich memory and encounters between heterogeneous social groups whose diverse interpretations of a city’s past may clash.
English
15 pages
Routledge Handbook on Transformations of Political Violence, p. 381-395,
London/New York: Routledge 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003635024