Enterprise and Heritage: Crosscurrents of National Culture

In Britain, the rise of the radical Right has been expressed in the creation of a market society. "Enterprise" is the term most often used for the official encouragement of the values of this society, where competitive private ownership provides the model for both industrial and domestic life. For the individual, identity emerges with the exercise of choice in the marketplace, and the "right to buy" is celebrated as the guarantee of individual freedom. At the same time, the popularity of the idea of "heritage" signals the invocation of the values and achievements of a mythical and nostalgia-tinged past. Enterprise and Heritageexplores these two interrelated phenomena in the context of fundamental changes in economic and political life on a global level. Using case studies, commentary, and critique, the contributors examine the importance of these two concepts in film, television, literature, advertising, architecture, and information technology. This volume will be usefulto those who want to understand the phenomena at the forefront of social and cultural life in the West, and which will be a continuing influence in the 1990s and beyond.