Cultural Heritage and Responsibility: Linking Narratives of the Past to Perspectives of the Future

Abstract

Abstract This paper aims at identifying factors behind the-making-of cultural heritage reproduced within educational settings by trying to answer the following question: How do young people link narratives of the past with their own cultural identities and perspectives on the future? Observations made at conferences by two different non-formal educational organisations in the same region in Germany form the data for this analysis. Both conferences were structurally similar but very different in their perspectives on Germany’s role in global history and on young people’s responsibilities to create a future worth living in. Since both organisations are concerned with political education and target a similar group of young people from similar economic and educational backgrounds, these differences seem especially significant for thinking about discursive practices in educational settings. Building on the understanding that heritage is a discursive practice in a field of power relations, the paper provides insights into the links between certain images of the past, which are recreated in very specific ways in different educational settings, and the cultural practices young people produce within their local contexts.