For all Australians? An analysis of the heritage field

Abstract

This article presents a field analysis of heritage tastes and patterns of engagements in Australia. Using multiple correspondence analysis, it examines a dimension of data collected as part of the 2014–2015 national survey on Australian cultural practices. The data are positioned against the recently published Australian Heritage Strategy, released in 2015, which marks out heritage as a cultural orientation of relevance ‘for all Australians’ (12), thereby alluding to a field that might be defined by openness and far-ranging levels of cultural engagement. The social spaces of heritage captured by the Australian Cultural Fields survey reveal an alternative picture, however, and suggest that there are significant social divisions regarding recognition of, taste for and participation in heritage within the Australian context.

Acknowledgements

The Australian Cultural Fields: National and Transnational Dynamics project was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council (DP140101970). The project was awarded to Tony Bennett (Project Director), to Chief Investigators Greg Noble, David Rowe, Tim Rowse, Deborah Stevenson and Emma Waterton (Western Sydney University), David Carter and Graeme Turner (University of Queensland), and to Partner Investigators Modesto Gayo (Universidad Diego Portales) and Fred Myers (New York University). Michelle Kelly (Western Sydney University) was appointed as Project Manager/Senior Research Officer. The project has additionally benefited from inputs from Ien Ang, Ben Dibley, Liam Magee, Anna Pertierra and Megan Watkins (Western Sydney University).

Notes

1. The ACF survey was administered by the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Queensland. A main sample of 1202 Australians was augmented by boost samples for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Chinese, Indian, Italian and Lebanese Australians (total = 1462). This article considers the main sample.

2. See the introduction to this special section for a more detailed account of the survey and sampling strategy.