Agency and Identity in the Urban Built Environment in the Histories and Heritage of Minority Religious Communities: How access to changing urban space

This research proposes to look at how the experience, identity and sense of belonging for Jewish communities are affected by and interact with their built environment. This will include an analysis of the research already undertaken into the urban built environment of Jewish communities, both active and 'defunct', alongside other interdisciplinary cultural studies concerning other minority faiths, cultures and communities. I will also analyse the current representation of minority heritage in 'traditional' sites of heritage interaction, such as museums, and, more specifically, review how and which aspects of Jewish heritage are presented. This will include looking at discussions surrounding history versus heritage - the narrative of the past versus the values placed on practices, objects or places because of an historical narrative - and how these fit into Jewish communities' experiences.
The above research would form the basis of my secondary research, whilst my primary research will focus on engagement with Jewish communities themselves. Whilst there have been studies into architectural buildings and sites of Jewish heritage, Sharman Kadish's Jewish Heritage in Britain and Ireland: An Architectural Guide being the most notable, many of the studies so far have concentrated more on statistical and quantitative analysis over qualitative data (Kadish 2015). There are exceptions, such as the report by Historic England on British Jewish Cemeteries and the challenges around preserving them, but very little qualitative analysis on the relationship between space and heritage for Jewish communities has been undertaken (Barker Langham, 2015). In order to contribute to this gap in knowledge, I propose to use ethnographical methods of data collection, as utilised in the Barker Langham consultation report and other studies in the field of minority cultures and identity. These include conducting interviews, questionnaires and observing and engaging with communities to understand how their access to, and use of, space impacts their ideas of heritage and relates to on their identity. I will look to see if these findings reflect either the work that has already been done in this area and the current presentation of Jewish heritage in wider heritage interactions. I hope to engage with Jewish communities that represent both a geographical spread across the country, differing sizes of communities and different denominations. This would not only allow a comparison in terms of whether being a part of large community impacts on identity but also whether different theological standpoints enhances or diminishes these connections.
It is hoped that this research will create a better understanding of the Jewish communities' interaction with their heritage and lead to a deeper understanding of their sense of place, identity, belonging as modern British Jews. Alongside this I hope that it will be able to provide suggestions for future heritage management plans for both Jewish communities and heritage professionals to showcase the diversity of the British Jewish community.
Works cited:
Barker Langham. (2015). Jewish Burial Grounds: Understanding Values. Report Undertaken for Historic England. [Online]. Available at https://research.historicengland.org.uk/Report.aspx?i=1579. [Accessed 9th October 2020].
Kadish. S. (2015). Jewish heritage in England: An architectural guide. Swindon: English Heritage.