Community Consultation to Co-Creation: A History of Talking Past Each Other?

The history of community engagement in the heritage and museum sector is typified by stakeholders talking past one another. This paper argues that the historical and contemporary expert discourses within the museum and heritage sector about ‘community work’ facilitates a sense of professional benevolence while obscuring power/knowledge relationships and the broader political work that heritage and museums do in western societies. Despite their initial historical hesitation in engaging with other communities of interest, experts have developed a range of strategies to facilitate professional benefits from community engagements. These practices work, however, to maintain resistance to engaging with the material politics of heritage-making and other heritage practices. The paper urges greater engagement with the political aspects of heritage and argues that co-creation requires explicit language for discussing and assessing the political impact of co-creation and broader heritage activities. It is vitally important to develop strategies for understanding and assessing what is at stake for communities of interest, including the community of experts, in co-creation. These strategies would be essential for navigating and assessing the political consequences of co-creation and broader heritage practices.