Constructing Industrial Pasts

Since the 1960s, nations across the “developed world” have been profoundly shaped by deindustrialization. In regions in which previously dominant industries faced crises or have disappeared altogether, industrial heritage offers a fascinating window into the phenomenon’s cultural dimensions. As the contributions to this volume demonstrate, even as forms of industrial heritage provide anchors of identity for local populations, their meanings remain deeply contested, as both radical and conservative varieties of nostalgia intermingle with critical approaches and straightforward apologias for a past that was often full of pain, exploitation and struggle.

Stefan Berger is Professor of Social History and directs the Institute for Social Movements at the Ruhr University Bochum. He is also Chairman of the Foundation History of the Ruhr and Honorary Professor at Cardiff University in the UK. Before taking up his current position in Germany in 2011, he held the position of Professor of Modern German and Comparative European History at the University of Manchester.

“The 15 case studies are written to a uniformly high standard and provide a consistent approach to investigating each context's local cultural identity, which is increasingly important to maintain and acknowledge in this age of rapid globalization and homogenization of identity and economics. This analysis of specific regional examples of post-industrial history and the remembrance of an often romanticized, yet harsh, industrial identity will be of wide academic and regional interest…Recommended.” • Choice

“This collection of well-focused essays takes an original approach to a subject of very wide interest. It has substantial cross-disciplinary appeal.” • Chris Wrigley, Nottingham University

“Constructing Industrial Pasts is a timely volume on post-industrial history and the processes and politics of remembrance. It covers a richly detailed set of case studies and makes an invaluable contribution to the field.” • Denis Byrne, Western Sydney University