The Network of Experts and the Construction of Cultural Heritage. Identity Formation in Contemporaneity

Abstract

This paper presents the most important findings of a research project on the expert processes that mediate in the construction of a sense of belonging through cultural heritage in the context of the Basque Country. Drawing from a theoretical framework based on Post-structuralism, Science and Technology Studies (STS), as well as other contemporary and classic sociological schools, this paper uses a qualitative approach (interviews and participant observations) that led to the analysis and description of the main expert processes involved in the construction of a relationship between cultural heritage and the community, group or society that considers it as part of their own identity.