Who cares for heritage? A feminist critique centred on care work in heritage regimes

Abstract

This article advances a feminist critique of heritage by placing care work and social reproduction at the centre of analysis. Drawing on feminist epistemologies, feminist economics, and ethnographic fieldwork, it argues that heritage regimes are materially sustained by informal, feminised and undervalued labour. From physical maintenance and emotional labour to intergenerational transmission and community cohesion, such work remains largely invisible within formal heritage systems. Rather than calling for token inclusion, the article interrogates the colonial, patriarchal and heteronormative logics that underpin the authorised heritage discourse. It highlights how dominant heritage practices reproduce gendered power relations, burden minoritised communities by casting them as symbolic custodians of tradition, and naturalise structural inequalities. Drawing on a critical literature review and grounded ethnographic insights, it rethinks heritage not as a static legacy but as a contested social process shaped by labour, affect, and political negotiation. The article proposes heritage care work as a critical lens for revaluing feminised cultural labour and challenging the uneven distribution of responsibilities, benefits, and authority. Ultimately, it argues that depatriarchalising heritage requires not only recognition and redistribution but also defending the right to refuse, renegotiate, or abandon certain heritages – especially those that perpetuate exclusion and symbolic violence.