The heritage machine: the neoliberal order and the individualisation of identity in Maragatería (Spain) Pablo Alonso González (Received 10 April 2014; final version received 13 October 2014) Since the inception of modernity, minority and majority identities have been constructed in a twofold process involving the parallel generation of repre- sentations of difference and the obliteration of alterity, that is, of other modes of existence. The exacerbation of the modern period in the supermodern era has furthered this process, adapting it to the new forms of neoliberal and post-political governmentality. This is paralleled by a shift from real to symbolic and metacultural forms of interaction that serve to negotiate identity and hegemony in the social sphere. Heritage has become a fundamental trope for the negotiation of identity, access to resources and power, as its produc- tion is not anymore bounded to the State but is rather ‘dispersed’ in society. This article explores the way cultural heritage has become a ‘machine’ for the production of dominant and individualised identities interacting in a deregu- lated market environment in Maragatería (Spain). Keywords: cultural heritage; post-politics; neoliberalism; identity; individua- lisation; governmentality Introduction This article explores the way cultural heritage has become a ‘machine’ for the production of dominant and individualised identities in tune with neoliberal and post-political forms of governmentality. It analyses how, since the inception of modernity, minority and majority identities have been constructed in a twofold process involving the parallel generation of representations of difference and the obliteration of alterity, that is, of other modes of existence. Ultimately, this article is concerned with how power differences (politics) relate to the powers of difference (ontology), accounting for the processes that produce specific ethni- cities and the power relations that manufacture the alterity of certain groups (Holbraad 2009). It argues that in the supermodern period heritage is not any more bounded to the State and rather becomes ‘dispersed’ in the social sphere. Whereas postmodernity generally describes a break with modernity and the end of the faith in progress, supermodernity broadly refers to an increased faith in the ability of humanity to control, explain, understand and manipulate most aspects of human existence and a belief in the possibility of increased individual Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2014.977291 © 2014 Taylor & Francis Downloaded by [University of Cambridge] at 04:07 26 November 2014