Drawing Lessons from the Culture Wars in England’s Black Country

Abstract

Reflecting wider national and international political trends and discourses around heritage and identity, an analysis of the controversies regarding the symbolism of the popular and widely-adopted regional flag of the Black Country in the West Midlands of England offer a case study in how the tactics of culture war media and politics have been developed and honed to shut down pluralistic and alternative opinions and interpretations to those fostered by institutional and statutory actors, particularly that reinforce uncritical understandings of legacies of colonialism and racism. The region’s experience also highlights how institutional approaches within a neoliberal cultural, economic, and funding landscape must be tempered to avoid inadvertently creating divisive and alienating impacts for the wider community’s relationship to, and participation in, our shared public history and cultural life.