“My people, mijn volk, mi pueblo, myn minsken, I have been elected into office to protect our heritage and defend you from them”. Surely this sounds familiar. You have heard it in one or more of the four official political languages of our Kingdom of the Netherlands—English, Dutch, Papiamento, and Frisian.
Like it or not, these days heritage is explicitly being wedded to formal politics. As is the case in the four corners of the globe, political elites throughout the Kingdom of the Netherlands are claiming to be the guardians of heritage. By defending our heritage elected officials and aspirant ministers and members of parliament bellow in every public presentation that they are supposedly protecting our imperiled way of life, our honor, identity and collective survival. The protection “from whom” (the them) question needs to be preceded by the query of what exactly is our heritage?
Like it or not, these days heritage is explicitly being wedded to formal politics. As is the case in the four corners of the globe, political elites throughout the Kingdom of the Netherlands are claiming to be the guardians of heritage. By defending our heritage elected officials and aspirant ministers and members of parliament bellow in every public presentation that they are supposedly protecting our imperiled way of life, our honor, identity and collective survival. The protection “from whom” (the them) question needs to be preceded by the query of what exactly is our heritage?
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