In light of increasing polarization of cultural identities, the treatment of minority cultures, and the memory of historical injustices, processes of constructing and legitimizing cultural heritage are becoming increasingly relevant. What mechanisms determine which cultural practices and representations are considered worthy of protection?
Whose perspectives are recognized, whose voices remain unheard? The example of Jewish cultural heritage shows that, despite the growing importance of critical heritage studies, there is a research gap: the systematic investigation of the mechanisms through which cultural heritage is authorized.
Many of the selection criteria, evaluation standards, and epistemological assumptions that guide authorization processes often function as unquestioned normalities-such as internalized disciplinary self-evident truths, unreflective institutional routines, and implicit aesthetic or moral judgments. Drawing on a wealth of disciplinary perspectives-ranging from architecture to history, education, cultural studies, and musicology-this anthology contributes to creating transparency: the disclosure of these mechanisms is a prerequisite for their critical questioning, discursive negotiation, and potential change.
