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Paper short abstract:

How are conflictual events becoming urban cultural heritage and what is the role of affective relations to the city and its streets in this? Drawing on ethnographic research on cultural institutions in Paris I understand the city as „promissory assemblage“ to study affect and the public sphere.

Paper long abstract:

At the latest since the French Revolution, Paris has been the place where social conflicts have been brought to the streets; streets as battle ground and central stage for public matters of concern (Wakeman 2009). Can we talk about a performative agency of Parisian streets and if so, how does this translate into urban cultural heritage?

The topic ot this panel allows me to evaluate current material from ethnographic research on two cultural institutions in Paris. In order to evoke promises attached to the city, I have conducted walk-alongs with a variety of people: Parisians working in these institutions, colleagues in urban studies, visitors, people who have moved here recently or since a longer period of time.

While „contested heritage“ (Hamm et al 2022), especially of postcolonial struggles, is slowly being taken up officially and translated into collective memorials, certain streets and places evoked individual memories of their ephemeral appropriations to create publics for collective matters of concern.

How are ephemeral articulations such as demonstrations remembered, how do they relate to raids or even clashes such as attacks that took place in the very same streets? And what out of these divergent events becomes urban cultural heritage - why and for whom?

This research is framed by assemblage research conceiving Paris as a „promissory assemblage“ (Färber 2019, 2020) which allows to grasp affective attachments in their ambivalent mode of endurance (Berlant 2010).