Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

To better understand both positive and negative community-building, it is imperative to study how heritage, or the perception of heritage, is created and transmitted. Subnational, national, and non-state actors have used the creation and transmission of heritage to promote worldviews that can build either positive or negative concepts of community. Examining not just one’s own demographics (Stage 1), but to reflect upon the prioritization of demographic factors in the perception of self (Stage 2) is a fascinating exercise in self-awareness. The next step in understanding community-building and the concept of heritage is to compare personal demographic descriptors and prioritization in the creation of self to the demographic majorities in the general population or the population being studied (Stage 3). These exercises can increase our understanding of community-building and how it can be used both positively and negatively, to create and transmit heritage or the perception of heritage.