The Heritage Machine: The Neoliberal Order and the Individualisation of Identity in Maragatería (Spain)

Abstract

"Since the inception of modernity, minority and majority identities have been constructed in a twofold process involving the parallel generation of representations of difference and the obliteration of alterity, that is, of other modes of existence. The exacerbation of the modern period in the super-modern era has furthered this process, adapting it to the new forms of neoliberal and post-political governmentality. This is paralleled by a shift from real to symbolic and metacultural forms of interaction that serve to negotiate identity and hegemony in the social sphere. Heritage has become a fundamental trope for the negotiation of identity, access to resources and power, as its production is not anymore bounded to the State but is rather dispersed in society. This article explores the way cultural heritage has become a machine for the production of dominant and individualised identities interacting in a deregulated market environment in Maragatería (Spain)."