La mémoire de l’industrie

Overview & Synopsis

Long ignored or scorned, industrial heritage is now being given institutional recognition: old factories are being rehabilitated, mine shafts are being included in tourist itineraries and industrial objects are being made into museums. After destroying so much, people are now dreaming of preserving everything, because the vestiges of industry are seen as constituting professional or local identities that deserve to be valued. While the social sciences cannot ignore this desire for heritage that comes from below, they must not allow themselves to be overwhelmed by these singular memories. In a critical approach that brings together researchers and heritage professionals, and takes the reader on a journey from Lorraine's iron and steel industry to the North of France's coal mines, and from Turin to Billancourt, this book examines the process that transforms factories into heritage, the second life given to them by the new functions they take on, and the conditions for a history that gives pride of place to the material traces of industry.