The Political Economy of Rehabilitation: The case of the Benedettini Monastery

Abstract

This chapter is aimed at exploring some aspects related to the issue of conservation, using as a case study the conservation of the Benedettini Monastery in Catania. Starting from this case, we will try to draw attention to general issues of political economy, such as the identification of the actors involved in decisions about conservation, the ways in which conservation can be carried out and the role of the consumers/users. Four questions will be addressed:

• (i) What should be conserved?

• (ii) Why do we conserve?

• (iii) Who should conserve?

• (iv) How should conservation be carried out?

The ‘contemporary history’ of the building will be examined in a political economy framework to see whether any ‘lesson’ can be derived from this example. Among other things, we will examine whether such an experience provides any hint as to how to address the problem raised by Peacock (1995, p. 2) ‘of marrying public support for conservation with appropriate public action’.

We would like to thank A. Leonardi, who has acted as an inestimable source of information on the Bendettini Monastery’s past and recent history. The responsibility for the interpretation of data and information is ours only. Although the paper is a joint work sections 2,3,4 and 5 are mainly attributable to Giacomo Pignatoro and the others to Ilde Rizzo.