Decolonising York: telling alternative stories in a heritage city

该项目将通过档案研究和现有建筑遗产基础设施的调查相结合，审查约克的遗产景观。其目的是确定被排除在外的黑人，亚洲和少数民族的故事和地方在约克的18 - 20世纪的历史，并与他们，有助于创造新的遗产经验。在约克大学和公民信托基金会之间工作，我将深入批判性遗产研究，历史研究和公民政策的实用性。这有助于大学和约克市遗产组织的更大议程，以创造包容性的历史。历史兴趣是约克旅游业的核心和主要收入来源，并计划将该市发展为联合国教科文组织世界遗产。介绍借鉴了从罗马人到希腊人的“岛屿故事”，重点是维京人，中世纪建筑，教堂和巧克力工业。约克的大部分现代遗产展示恰恰代表了非殖民化方法试图在英国北方城市破坏的霸权主义、白色叙事。在2011年的人口普查中，有12,000名约克居民自认为是BAME。“非殖民化”历史的方法是承认各种贡献。这也需要对知识进行重新概念化，以面对“白色”欧洲人的主体性如何受到殖民主义遗产的影响。这样的争论是英国公共生活的断层线，反映在罗兹必须下降或殖民地乡村：国家信托机构重新解释的项目中，这些项目强调了种族化剥削的做法是如何成为现代英国的历史的。对于约克，我们认为这也是正确的。约克的当地历史是加勒比种植园工人和贵格会实业家的历史。该项目旨在揭示这些不同的故事，以丰富约克的公共空间。我将探索约克的遗产作为基础设施的一部分，通过这些基础设施，身份和权力的产生，并将受益于考古学（遗产方法）和历史（档案研究，公共历史）之间的共同监督和培训，以及与公民信托基金会的强有力的合作伙伴关系。主要的重点将是从十八世纪起，利用约克的档案收藏的优势。然而，这将补充正在进行的关于约克更深层次过去的工作，我将在公民信托基金会与之互动。本研究的探索途径可以包括城市的糖果业，殖民劳工和赔偿，以及向约克的移民。一些关键的问题是：我们能否确定约克的建筑遗产与黑人，亚洲和少数民族的历史和经验的元素？游客目前是如何体验这些故事的？从约克探索和UoY博思威克档案馆的档案研究中，可以讲述约克城市过去的哪些不同故事？约克多元的社区如何体验和珍惜他们的遗产？这些以非殖民地和重要遗产研究为基础的理解，将通过持续的合作和一段时间的安置，纳入公民信托基金的工作。我的工作将有助于为展示约克的过去提供新的方式，并塑造公民信托的战略，使其更具包容性。研究方法将根据我的经验和主管的指导进行塑造，但可能包括档案研究，焦点小组访谈和对约克建筑遗产的调查。约克的档案中包含了从19世纪起这个城市在可可贸易中所扮演的角色的丰富信息，我将在我的分析中借鉴这些和其他地方记录。

This project will review York's heritage landscape through a combination of archival research and survey of the existing built heritage infrastructure. The aim is to identify excluded Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic stories and places across York's 18th - 20th century history and, with them, contribute to the creation of new heritage experiences. Working between the University of York and the Civic Trust, I will be embedded in critical heritage studies, historical research and the practicalities of civic policy. This contributes to larger agendas at the university and among heritage organisations in the City of York to create inclusive histories.Historic interest is at the core of York tourism and major source of revenue, with plans to develop the city as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Presentation draws on the 'Island Story' from the Romans to Victorians, with emphasis on Vikings, medieval buildings, the Church and the chocolate industry. Much of York's modern heritage presentation represents precisely the hegemonic, white narratives that decolonial approaches seek to disrupt, in a northern British city, where 12,000 York residents self-identified as BAME in the 2011 census. Approaches to 'decolonising' history centre the recognition of diverse contributions. This also requires a reconceptualisation of knowledge to confront how subjectivities of 'white' Europeans have been affected by the legacies of colonialism. Such debate is a faultline of British public life, reflected in the Rhodes Must Fall or Colonial Countryside: National Trust Houses Reinterpreted projects, which highlight how practices of racialised exploitation are the histories of modern Britain. For York, we argue the same is true. York's local history is of Caribbean plantation labourers as much as Quaker industrialists. The project aims to uncover these diverse stories to enrich York's public space.I will explore York's heritage as part of infrastructures through which identity and power are produced and will benefit from co-supervision and training between Archaeology (heritage approaches) and History (archival research, public history) as well as from a strong partnership with the Civic Trust. The main focus will be from the eighteenth century onwards, exploiting the strengths of York's archival collections. Yet this will complement ongoing work on York's deeper past, with which I will interact at the Civic Trust. Avenues of exploration for this study can include the city's confectionery industry, colonial labour and reparations, and migration to York. Some of the key questions are:Can we identify elements of York's built heritage associated with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic histories and experiences? How do visitors currently experience those stories?What diverse stories can be told about York's urban past, drawn from archival research at York Explore and the UoY Borthwick archive?How do York's diverse communities experience and value their heritage?These understandings, grounded in decolonial and critical heritage studies, will then be brought into the work of the Civic Trust, through ongoing collaboration and a period of placement. My work will help inform new ways of presenting York's past, and shape Civic Trust strategy to be more inclusive moving forward.Research methods will be shaped by my experience and supervisor guidance, but are likely to include archival research, focus group interviews and a survey of York's built heritage. York's archives contain rich information on the city's role in the cocoa trade from the 19th century, and I will draw on these, and other local records, in my analysis.