Abstract
Rautenberg casts his discussion in the current context of strong heritage policies and local passions and interests, which he calls ‘weak heritages’ because of their very low level of institutionalisation. He examines two ethnographies: Villeurbanne, a town near Lyon that has traditionally hosted refugee and migrant associations, and Villeneuve d’Ascq, in the north of France, where pioneers’ utopia of country town was established in the 1970s. In both cases, in opposition to official policies, ‘weak’ local heritage has succeeded in preserving local practices and parts of landscapes to which people are attached. Both cases involve what Rautenberg calls ‘social heritage’, whose strength, he argues, lies in their plasticity. They do not belong to anybody, can appeal to a range of new social arenas and make people feel that they are the inheritors of a history.
Translated by Marie Deer.
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This research was carried out in two phases. The first, from 2002 to 2003, was a collective project examining the evolution of the notion of public space in new cities. The second, from 2002 to 2006, looked at the production of intermediate spaces in the vicinity of Villeneuve d’Ascq. This was based on multiple sources: interviews in the Lille region and in Paris with developers, landscapers and architects who had been involved in the construction of the city; regular observations in various contexts, including participation in guided tours of the city, cultural activities, and visiting stores and personal connections (of which we had many because Villeneuve d’Ascq is a university town); a systematic review of the municipal as well as the institutional press from 1977 to 1985, and again from 2003 to 2005; queries to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies and to city services about the city’s sociodemographic data from 1977 to 2006; and in-depth and repeated interviews with 22 residents beyond our personal connections.
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This neighborhood was not part of the original plans and it was the subject of a memorable battle between the local government and the residents, who were against the project, which was supported by the state and by Etablissement Public d’Aménagement de Lille Est.
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La Tribune, February 2000, no. 151.
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I rely here on a collective research project led by the anthropologist Claire Autant-Dorier from 2012 to 2014. The team included a social psychologist, an anthropologist, a videographer, a doctoral student in anthropology, the historian Olivier Chatelan and me. I have been involved with the centre since 2007, helping to facilitate its work. I have also participated in several studies and reflections on its workings and its institutional memory, particularly the 50th anniversary project, which is described later. During the latter, I was involved as a member of the research steering committee and a co-director of the thesis.
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Father Jean Latreille came from a family of socially active Catholics who were well known in Lyon, which allowed him to involve a number of Lyon’s industrial employers in the CCO’s early years.
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‘Christmas parties’ are popular traditional events that gather the employees or stakeholders together in the last days before the Christmas holidays in many companies, associations and public offices. They are called ‘Christmas trees’ (arbres de Noël).
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From a speech by President Jean-Michel Privolt (1983–1987) (quoted in Chatelan 2012, p. 31).
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For example, in 1985 the CCO supported the creation of the Villeurbanne Organization for Housing Rights (Association villeurbannaise pour le droit au logement), whose first goal was to facilitate access to decent housing for foreigners. The organization had its headquarters at the CCO, which provided rent-free rooms and equipment. The permanent staff and the board members of the CCO were involved in the life of the organization as well (Chatelan 2012).
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Arising in the early 1980s in response to the social issues around subsidized housing areas, these policies became institutionalized during the following decade.
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My emphasis.
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One of the main cultural events organized every year by the CCO.
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A book sprint is an intensive collaborative writing practice which takes place over several days (in this case five days). Twelve people participated, writing online on the CCO’s core topics: connection to communities, attachment to a universe that feeds on diversity , involvement and social transformation.
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Based on interviews that had been carried out beforehand, the participants were asked to role-play encounters.
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Quotations here are from the programme for the event.
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Rautenberg, M. (2018). The Strength of Weak Heritages: Urbanity, Utopias and the Commitment to Intangible Heritage. In: Pardo, I., Prato, G. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Urban Ethnography. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64289-5_17
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