What is Worth Preserving in Digital Archiving? Community, Consent and an Exploration of the Psychology of Preservation
Abstract
This research critically examines the epistemological, ethical, and methodological dimensions of digital archiving in the preservation of Kashmiri cultural heritage. Anchored in the central question-what is worth preserving in digital archiving?- The study interrogates how intangible and vernacular heritage practices are engaged, contested, or excluded in technologically mediated preservation efforts. Utilizing a qualitative ethnographic framework, the research incorporates seven semi-structured interviews conducted through a publicly accessible podcast series on Spotify, each of which explores the psychology of preservation from intergenerational, gendered, and community-based perspectives. Complemented by field documentation at historically and spiritually significant sites in Srinagar, the study identifies persistent patterns of resistance to visual documentation, particularly in sacred spaces. These refusals are not seen as obstacles but as expressions of cultural self-respect-showing a desire to control how traditions are represented, protect spiritual spaces, and build trust in how archiving is done. The research evaluates the affordances and limitations of digital tools-including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, 3D mapping, and open-access community platforms-through the lens of critical heritage studies and decolonial methodology. Findings suggest that while these technologies offer preservation potential, their implementation often reproduces extractive paradigms unless grounded in participatory and values-led approaches. This study contributes to the broader discourse on intangible heritage, postcolonial memory, and community-based archiving by advocating for preservation as an ethical, dialogic, and negotiated process. It calls for a reconfiguration of digital archiving as a co-constructed practice, one that resists authorized heritage discourses and centers lived experience, affective knowledge, and cultural self-determination.
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