Podcast Summary:

New Books Network — Todd H. Weir and Lieke Wijnia, eds., "The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Heritage in Contemporary Europe" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Date: February 23, 2026
Host: James Belo
Guests: Todd H. Weir & Lieke (Lika) Wijnia

Episode Overview

This episode explores the major themes and insights from "The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Heritage in Contemporary Europe," edited by Todd H. Weir and Lieke Wijnia. The conversation unpacks how religion and heritage intersect in contemporary European contexts, drawing from 46 case studies within the handbook. Key issues include the politics of heritage, inclusive approaches to religious heritage, the impact of secularization, and the global and local power dynamics at stake in designating and managing heritage.

About the Guests & The Origins of the Handbook

• Lieke Wijnia: Religious studies scholar and art historian, working at the intersection of art, creativity, religion, and heritage. The project felt like a “logical project”, originating from her previous work and a major 2019 international conference she co-organized.

  • [02:48] “The volume came out of a major international conference that I organized together with Todd in Groningen in 2019.”

• Todd Weir: Historian focusing on secularism and secularization in Europe; Director of the Center for Religion and Heritage at the University of Groningen.

  • [03:40] “What became really fascinating to me was the way that heritage has entered into discussions of, let’s say, what is religion today, especially in a place like Europe.”

• Collaborative Core: The handbook bridges academia and heritage practitioners, notably involving heritage foundations, museums, and cultural quarters from across Europe in both the conference and the volume itself.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Bridging Academia and Heritage Practice

[04:56–07:42]

• The handbook emerged from a deliberate effort to bridge the gap between academic theorizing and the practical realities of heritage work.
• Key partnerships with heritage organizations signaled strong field interest; the goal was to foster “exchange and inspiration” (Lika).

2. Structure and Usefulness of the Handbook

[07:57–08:47]

• Designed for teaching and practical heritage settings, chapters are short (3–5,000 words) and grouped into teaching units:
  • “There's a kind of a more scholarly chapter, then there’s some case studies, analytical chapters. So they're kind of already little teaching units.” (Todd, [07:57])

3. Heritage as Process – Success, Failure, Ambiguity

[10:54–20:49]

• Case: House of One, Berlin — Intended as interreligious dialogue (Christian, Muslim, Jewish).

  • “It was anti-hegemonic... a kind of effort to overturn a narrative about Christian Europe, you know, something that's exclusively Christian.” (Todd, [11:00–14:04])

  • However: Participation does not encompass entire religious communities, raising questions about inclusivity.

  • Notable Quote:
    “[The project] represents 3 out of 250 religious communities in Berlin.” (Lika, quoting a critical voice in the chapter, [14:04])

• Case: St. Martin’s Parade, Utrecht — Attempt to create an inclusive city-wide festivity.

  • Christian elements (e.g., cross on helmet) were minimized to promote inclusivity, leading to ambivalence about “successful” heritage.
  • “On the one hand it seems strange to have this central figure from a particular tradition and then play down the aspects of that… But if inclusivity is your aim… then there’s probably no other option.” (Lika, [15:02-20:49])

4. Politics and Weaponization of 'Heritage'

[23:21–31:07]

• Heritage can be deployed politically as a claim to ownership or as a mechanism of exclusion.

  • “In the US now they talk about… ‘heritage Americans’, which is a way of saying white Americans. So… they're claiming America for white people.” (Todd, [23:21])

• The volume is critical of such discourses and contains chapters that actively challenge nationalistic or exclusionary definitions of religious heritage.

  • E.g., Arpad Fran Klimo’s chapter debunks the myth of an essentially Christian Central Europe.

• Dutch Context: Right-wing politicians like Wilders and Baudet use “Judeo-Christian heritage” in anti-immigration, anti-Islamic rhetoric.

  • “Often these people… are not even Christian themselves in a traditional sense. So it's used in a very strategic way and… it forces Christians to… voice against these often outlandish and… too narrow-minded conceptions of Christian heritage.” (Lika, [25:35])

5. Heritage as Interreligious and Intercultural Space

[31:07–38:10]

• Turning religious practices and artifacts into heritage can create a “safe distance” and allow for interfaith or intercultural dialogue.

• Example: “School Church” in Groningen, using festivals and food as meeting points for Muslim, Christian, and non-religious children.

  • Heritage projects often oscillate between emphasizing commonality and acknowledging difference.
  • “These sort of diversity or interreligious projects have these multiple aims… what makes us human and how do we interact with one another.” (Lika, [33:42])

• Power imbalances and unequal starting points persist, even within well-intentioned “inclusive” projects.

6. The Janus-Faced Nature of Heritage — Looking Back, Looking Forward

[38:10–50:58]

• Heritage always involves the present and the future, as much as the past.
• Metaphor: “A buoy chained to the ocean floor… the buoy moves in the waves of politics… but not too far. It always has to come back.” (Todd, quoting Willem Frijhoff, [39:28])
• Heritage involves selection and exclusion—what to preserve, and for whom—often reflecting the needs of present and future communities, not just the past.
• Example: Somali women in Aarhus, Denmark, successfully advocated for their story (including religious life) to be included in a contemporary open-air museum, though not without controversy about what constitutes Danish heritage.

7. Heritage, Power, and Value Across Scales

[50:58–60:49]

• Heritage status is a symbolic currency with economic and political stakes (e.g., UNESCO World Heritage, EU research).
• Pursuing heritage is both about recognition and access to resources, but risks “self-perpetuating” value and mass tourism.
  • “When something becomes heritage, it changes, it transforms… and the transformation doesn't always do justice to these fundamental connections.” (Lika, [55:03])
• There are efforts—for example, local festivals in rural Netherlands—not to “grow” endlessly, but to preserve original intentions and avoid over-commercialization.

8. Ambiguous Heritage and Excess

[60:52–69:36]

• The volume primarily addresses state- and institution-managed heritage in Europe, contrasting with American contexts where market forces dominate.
• Many institutions are overwhelmed with “too much” heritage, leading to tough decisions about what is preserved.
  • “We don’t want to keep it, but we also don’t want to throw it out… that’s really something at the core of religious heritage, private settings.” (Lika, [67:46])

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Heritage should be something that enlarges the notion of European society to include all types of people, all types of backgrounds, all types of religions.” — Todd Weir ([11:00])
• “We don’t want to keep it, but we also don’t want to throw it out.” – Lika Wijnia, on ambiguous religious objects offered to museums ([67:46])
• “There’s a kind of myth making with heritage as a concept that can be about who inherits... so when people use the term heritage in public, they’re often claiming these exclusive rights based on some myth, you know, about common ancestry.” — Todd Weir ([23:21])
• “Often these [political] people… are not even Christian themselves… so it’s used in a very strategic way.” – Lika Wijnia ([25:35])
• “Heritage is always about the present... historians are trying to figure out as accurately as they can what happened… [while] it’s pretty clear that Heritage is not about historical accuracy.” — Todd Weir ([39:28])
• “If inclusivity is your aim… then there’s probably no other option [but to minimize original religious features].” — Lika Wijnia ([20:49])

Comparative and Global Reflections

• The handbook mostly reflects northern European, post-Protestant, and secularized contexts, though includes some broader examples.
• There is a need for similar handbooks on religion and heritage in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, recognizing both the “Western” origins of heritage frameworks and their global contestation.
  • “The locality of all these case studies discussed in the handbook are really essential to them… what works in European context doesn’t necessarily work elsewhere.” (Lika, [77:19])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:30] Host & guest introductions, project genesis
• [04:56] The 2019 Groningen conference and bridging academia/field
• [07:57] Handbook structure and use for teaching/field
• [10:54] Success, failure, ambiguity in heritage-making (Berlin’s House of One, St. Martin’s Parade)
• [23:21] The politicization and weaponization of “heritage”
• [31:07] Heritage as a space for interreligious (and secular) exchange
• [38:10] Heritage’s Janus-faced nature; heritage, selection, and the future
• [50:58] The power and value of heritage at different scales (local–global)
• [60:52] Ambiguous heritage and secondhand sacred objects
• [71:19] What’s missing, where to go next, global comparisons

Closing Thoughts

• The handbook is a crucial contribution for understanding the shifting, often contested terrain of religion and heritage in Europe today. Its multiplicity of case studies and voices make it valuable both for practitioners and for scholars, and its frameworks and approaches provide prompts for similar work in other world regions.
• Invitation: “Maybe also an invitation to scholars listening who work on other parts of the world to maybe initiate handbooks of their parts of the world, because I think together it would really make an interesting set.” (Lika, [77:19])