ABSTRACT
Chapter 9 details the nature and consequences of ‘performances of reinforcement’, the most frequent heritage-making performance undertaken by visitors. The chapter details variations in this performance, identifying both socially and politically conservative performances and performances of progressive affirmation. The two variants of the performance tended to correlate to both genres of museum and heritage sites and to visitor demographics. These variants are themselves influenced by the underlying performances of privilege and nation-making and those informed by inequality/exclusion identified in Chapter 7. The consequences of these performances are considered in terms of the aspirations of museology and critical heritage studies to develop inclusive and progressive or cosmopolitan challenges to received historical and national narratives and the status quo.
