7 How Cultural Heritage can Contribute to Community Development and Wellbeing
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Claire Wallace
Abstract
Community wellbeing as an element of happiness research is a rather nebulous concept because first of all it is not clear how collective wellbeing amounts to more than the individual wellbeing of its members and second because it is not clear at what level ‘community’ takes place (see Phillips and Wong, 2017). While usually referring implicitly to a geographical location, community can also refer to the kinds of networks of affective connection and social ties that constitute people’s lives – and in a globalized and digitally connected social world these can be increasingly complex and manifold (Rainie and Wellman, 2012). Elsewhere we have described the ways in which information technology impacts on these local affiliations (Wallace and Vincent, 2017). Here we look more explicitly at one aspect of community wellbeing – that of cultural heritage. In doing so we argue that wellbeing is a property of communities rather than only of individuals. This therefore goes beyond the conventional view of happiness as an individual phenomenon.
One way of understanding wellbeing as a collective property is to consider the interactions of cultural and social capital and the way in which these convert into economic capital. Cultural heritage can be seen as an aspect of collective cultural capital and here we draw upon Bourdieu’s discussion of these issues. Bourdieu defines cultural capital as the set of attributes, dispositions and ‘taste’ that is valued in a given society (Bourdieu, 1984) and reproduces elite positions through the artefacts and knowledge that embody cultural goods.
Abstract
Community wellbeing as an element of happiness research is a rather nebulous concept because first of all it is not clear how collective wellbeing amounts to more than the individual wellbeing of its members and second because it is not clear at what level ‘community’ takes place (see Phillips and Wong, 2017). While usually referring implicitly to a geographical location, community can also refer to the kinds of networks of affective connection and social ties that constitute people’s lives – and in a globalized and digitally connected social world these can be increasingly complex and manifold (Rainie and Wellman, 2012). Elsewhere we have described the ways in which information technology impacts on these local affiliations (Wallace and Vincent, 2017). Here we look more explicitly at one aspect of community wellbeing – that of cultural heritage. In doing so we argue that wellbeing is a property of communities rather than only of individuals. This therefore goes beyond the conventional view of happiness as an individual phenomenon.
One way of understanding wellbeing as a collective property is to consider the interactions of cultural and social capital and the way in which these convert into economic capital. Cultural heritage can be seen as an aspect of collective cultural capital and here we draw upon Bourdieu’s discussion of these issues. Bourdieu defines cultural capital as the set of attributes, dispositions and ‘taste’ that is valued in a given society (Bourdieu, 1984) and reproduces elite positions through the artefacts and knowledge that embody cultural goods.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of Figures and Tables v
- Notes on Authors vi
- Introduction: Developing Qualitative Research into Happiness and Wellbeing 1
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Theories, Debates and Issues
- Living Well Together: On Happiness, Social Goods and Genuinely Progressive Sociology 21
- Happiness as an Affective Practice: Self, Suffering and Biography 47
- Personal Happiness, Social Unhappiness: Understanding the Complexity of Individual Happiness Accounts 69
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Communities, Biographies and Identities
- Developing a Biographical Approach to Happiness and Wellbeing 93
- Considering the Body in Happiness Research 113
- How Cultural Heritage can Contribute to Community Development and Wellbeing 133
- On Post-traumatic Growth and ‘Choosing’ to be Happy: Stories of Positive Change from African Refugees and Asylum Seekers 155
- Using Social Wellbeing to Inform Regeneration Strategies in a Former Colliery Town in Northern England 175
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Methodological Innovations
- A Board Game Approach to Studying the Multidimensionality of Life Satisfaction 199
- ‘Show Me What Makes You Happy at Work’: Visualizing Happiness in the Workplace 219
- Index 241
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of Figures and Tables v
- Notes on Authors vi
- Introduction: Developing Qualitative Research into Happiness and Wellbeing 1
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Theories, Debates and Issues
- Living Well Together: On Happiness, Social Goods and Genuinely Progressive Sociology 21
- Happiness as an Affective Practice: Self, Suffering and Biography 47
- Personal Happiness, Social Unhappiness: Understanding the Complexity of Individual Happiness Accounts 69
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Communities, Biographies and Identities
- Developing a Biographical Approach to Happiness and Wellbeing 93
- Considering the Body in Happiness Research 113
- How Cultural Heritage can Contribute to Community Development and Wellbeing 133
- On Post-traumatic Growth and ‘Choosing’ to be Happy: Stories of Positive Change from African Refugees and Asylum Seekers 155
- Using Social Wellbeing to Inform Regeneration Strategies in a Former Colliery Town in Northern England 175
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Methodological Innovations
- A Board Game Approach to Studying the Multidimensionality of Life Satisfaction 199
- ‘Show Me What Makes You Happy at Work’: Visualizing Happiness in the Workplace 219
- Index 241
