Industrial Heritage and Its Multiple Uses in Donbas, Ukraine

Abstract

Abstract:The article analyzes the heritagization of industrial culture in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts from the early 20th century until the 2010s. It is based on participant observation, analysis of media discourse, and 24 semistructured interviews with local historians, museum employees, and other agents of industrial heritagization, collected between 2016 and 2021. The article argues that changing political, social, and cultural contexts, as well as the shifting balance of power between the main organizations for heritage preservation has resulted in the selective representation of the region's past. It demonstrates that preservationist and utilitarian (political or economic) approaches have been dominant, and that future-oriented initiatives are still few and far between. The authors argue for the need for more forward-oriented thinking in dealings with the present and future of Donbas's industrial heritage.