De Glaciares, Ajolotes y Refinerías: Repensar el Patrimonio Cultural en y del Antropoceno
In this article I explore how three entities as diverse as a glacier, an amphibian and a refinery are connected, and argue why the story of this connection is relevant to the heritage field. Located in Mexico City, the study uses a mixed methodology (documentary, historical, visual analysis, and fie...
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | Brasil |
| Institución: | Centro Universitário de Anápolis (UniEVANGÉLICA) |
| Repositorio: | Historia Ambiental Latinoamericana y Caribeña |
| Idioma: | español |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ojs2.www.halacsolcha.org:article/894 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://www.halacsolcha.org/index.php/halac/article/view/894 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | cultural heritage anthropocene Mexico City environmental humanities critical heritage studies patrimonio cultural antropoceno Ciudad de México humanidades ambientales estudios críticos del patrimonio |
| Sumario: | In this article I explore how three entities as diverse as a glacier, an amphibian and a refinery are connected, and argue why the story of this connection is relevant to the heritage field. Located in Mexico City, the study uses a mixed methodology (documentary, historical, visual analysis, and field observation) to dissect processes of categorization, curation, conservation and communication of entities labelled, partially labelled or not-labelled, as heritage. By comparing the critical situation of the Mexican axolotl in its natural environment, the conversion of the former Azcapotzalco refinery into the Bicentenario Park and the irreversible disappearance of the Ayoloco glacier, the article shows the contradictions and processes through which value is assigned or withdrawn, and decisions are made about what is preserved and what is forgotten. Thus, I reveal different strategies of omission, institutionalization and memorialization taking place in a context of acute loss and deterioration –heritage in the Anthropocene–, which allows us to question the dominant cultural heritage paradigm. In addition, I explore “emerging heritages” –heritage of the Anthropocene –, whose toxic and destabilizing nature sets them in opposition with said paradigm. As I argue, a critical perspective about heritage –that which is already considered as such– as well as an openness towards these new heritages supposes a necessary epistemic and ontological change in a time of planetary collapse; one where conservation is not an antiquarian activity but a spearhead for building the future. |
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