Public Reason 12 (1): 3-5

© 2020 by Public Reason

Introduction. Proceedings of Cultural Heritage and Identities: Normative Perspectives, Sustainability and Global Governance

Ștefan Bârzu

University of Bucharest

Andreea Popescu

University of Bucharest

Paula Tomi

University of Bucharest

The present two volumes represent a refinement of some of the talks given at the conference “Cultural Heritage and Identities: Normative Perspectives, Sustainability and Global Governance” and the workshop “Cultural heritage: new forms, new actors, new identities - national, European and cosmopolitan visions.” The conference and workshop were centered on the idea of defining cultural heritage. What is cultural heritage? Why do we count intangible heritage as proper heritage? Which concepts are fundamental in defining and shaping our approach to cultural heritage? Interrelated topics such as cultural identity, social groups and communities were discussed either in relation with the topic of cultural heritage, or on their own right, aiming at clarifying, or problematizing some of their essential aspects.

The present two volumes gather, as part of PATCULT project1, some of the contributions concerning cultural heritage, the problem of normativity, the problem of col ective identity and cultural identity. However, some more focused contributions in aesthetics or biocultural ethics are also included. Thus, volume 12.1/2020 was designed to gather contributions on more applied topics, while volume 12.2/2020 focuses on more theoretical topics.

The first volume brings together Stoenescu’s contribution on bringing together the idea of sustainable development and environmentalist principles, Bulzan’s contribution in the philosophical discussion regarding VALIE EXPORT’s works, and Cojanu’s contribution on overlapping cultural frameworks and the relation between them.

The second volume’s theoretical aim is materialized by Fritsche’s discussion on Rawlsian liberalism in relation with policies regarding cultural heritage, Ionescu’s analysis concerning cultural identities, Dascălu’s attempt to apply John Dewey’s philosophy to our analysis of cultural heritage, Matei’s discussion on the relation between patriotism and globalization, and Popescu’s review of one of the latest 1] The two volumes are part of the activities and results of PATCULT#RO (“Complex multidisci-plinary platform for integrative and systematic research of identities and tangible and non-tangible cultural heritage in Romania”), PN III-P1-1.2-PCCDI-2017-0686, 52/PCCDI-2018, funded by UEFISCDI.

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Introduction. Proceedings of Cultural Heritage and Identities: Normative Perspectives, Sustainability and Global Governance

contributions on the topic of col ective agency and col ective action, namely Kirk Ludwig’s From Individual to Plural Agency: Col ective Action Vol. 1.

Constantin Stoenescu discusses the topic of biocultural ethics and sustainable development in “The Biocultural Ethics and the Homogeneous Sustainable Society.”

One step in Stoenescu’s argument is that nature is part of our cultural heritage, and this is taken as one of the premises of the argument. However, its truth is crucial in developing the main idea of the paper - that preserving nature, on a par with artefacts let’s say, is a duty. This duty is no less significant with respect to other living being, than is with respect to human beings. Thus, heritage should not be seen just as the traits in history of our communities, but as integrating the history and heritage of nature as wel .

We do not have an essential distinction between what communities have to offer and what nature has to offer, and our moral duty is to preserve them both, with the same amount of effort.

Within Diana Bulzan’s article, “Identification and Resistance. Strategies of Subjectivation in the Early Works of VALIE EXPORT”, we can fol ow a not only intriguing but also a rather provoking line of thought – one that finds its ground in the constant metonymy between art and ideology. The object of discussion is the work of the Austrian artist VALIE EXPORT, upon which Bulzan stresses the question of the construction of the subject and its ideological entanglements. Such way of vigilant questioning constantly moves between situating the work of art as a by-product of ideology and art as a political tool, or strategy, to emphasize, resist and eventual y overturn malicious structures of subjectivation. In this sense, Diana Bulzan’s thorough engagement with VALIE EXPORT’s works functions as an intriguing detour for the crucial issue of identity – a processual identity that is agonistical y moving between the powers of ideology and subjectivity. Fol owing, issues regarding the (feminine) body, and its representations, and the power of the imaginary and its materialized strategies of subjugation – all these are reconfigured by Bulzan throughout particular works of VALIE EXPORT with a significative philosophical inquiry in the topic of identity.

Daniel Cojanu’s article, “Inherited Identities and the Concept of Boundary.

Mapping the Multicultural Public Space,” targets a tumultuous and rather urgent matter that regards the complicated overlapping (that manifests as homogeneity) of cultures in contemporary societies. Therefore, Cojanu’s line of thought manages to unveil a series of issues that emerge from such new and eclectic cultural frameworks, issues that col apse under the sphere of identity. Within the discourse of the clash of cultures that happens in the “melting pot” of contemporary societies, Cojanu stresses that the argument for tolerance that we find in classical liberalism is no longer sufficient, for it nevertheless restrains and even eludes the much more important pressure of group identity expression. Thus, the resolution lies in the “un melting” of cultures and positively demarcation of their identity through an act of volitional recognition and listening of the other in a non-homogenous coexistence.

Ștefan Bârzu&Andreea Popescu&Paula Tomi 5

We thank our colleagues Helen O'Neill-Adkins, Amy Kings, Sebastian Orlander (Keele University) and Stefano Lo Re (University of St Andrews) for the help they have offered by making preparations for the publishing of these two special issues of Public Reason.

stefan.barzu@drd.unibuc.ro

andreea.popescu@filosofie.unibuc.ro

paula.tomi@filosofie.unibuc.ro

Document Outline

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Introduction. Proceedings of Cultural Heritage and Identities: Normative Perspectives, Sustainabilit

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