Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

The paper engages with the topic of the agency of religious buildings in Europe through a discussion of the different ways in which Jewish British citizens would like to see Jewish history and culture represented in the cities of the UK.

Paper long abstract

The paper stems from a larger study aimed to consider emic views of heritage at the grassroots level of British Jewish communities and engages with the topic of the agency of religious buildings in Europe through a discussion of the different ways in which Jewish British citizens would like to see Jewish history and culture represented in the cities of the UK. Drawing upon anthropological literature on the agency of urban landscapes and material objects, I focus on my interlocutors’ views about visual representations of this heritage in the context of their reflections on the best use of former synagogues. In doing so I put forward two interrelated sets of arguments. Firstly, I suggest that Jewish British citizens imbue the buildings of former synagogues, as well as spaces pertaining to Jewish heritage more broadly, with agency to inform the wider community about Jewish history. Secondly, I propose that their sense of belonging to British society and the overall sense of wellbeing are in turn affected by the agentive capacities of these sites, some of which are visually prominent, and others are hidden from sight or unmarked.