Abstract
This research presents traditional cultural heritage (CH) as a dynamic social process – a positive feedback loop enhancing cultural identity and institutional authority through a contested authoritative inclusion of the ‘objects' it comprises. It then focuses on one part of that process, the individuals' construction of their CH, and defines CH as the ‘transgenerational component of identity’. Research is cited to support a postmodernist and radical constructivist perspective of CH and to show how this definition evolves from such a perspective. This study qualitatively tests this perspective by using a representative household survey of Trinidadian respondents (n = 348) and showing economic, educational and social (EES) differences in how EES groups construct their CH. Also, interviews illustrate different personal constructions of CH. Four contributions of this research are its illuminating and applicable dynamic of traditional CH, its postmodern perspective and radical constructivist definition of CH, formally aligning it with current scientific discourse, and operationalising measurement of CH through authoritative inclusion of the ‘objects' it comprises.