Olaf Kaltmeier is Full Professor for Ibero-American History and Director of the Center for InterAmerican Studies at Bielefeld University, Germany.Mario Rufer is Full Professor-Researcher at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco, in Mexico City.

• Introduction: The Uses of Heritage and the Post-Colonial Condition in Latin America 1. On the Advantage and Disadvantage of Heritage for Latin America. Heritage Politics and Nostalgia between Coloniality and Indigeneity 2¡Mexicanos al grito de guerra! How the Himno Nacional became part of Mexico’s Heritage 3.Making Heritage. The Materialization of the State and the Expediency of Music. The Case of Cuarteto Característico in Córdoba, Argentina 4. Is Spanish our Language? Alfonso Reyes and the Policies of Language in Post-Revolutionary Mexico 5. Cultural Management and Neoliberal Governamentality. The Participation of Perú in the Exhibition Inca. Kings of the Andes 6. Commemorate, Consecrate, Demolish. Thoughts about the Mexican Museum of Anthropology and its History 7. Going Back to the Past or Coming Back from the Past? Governmental Policies and Uses of the Past in a Ranquel Community in San Luis, Argentina 8. Unearthing Patrimonio: Treasure and Collectivity in San Miguel Coatlinchan 9. Processes of Heritagization of Indigenous Cultural Manifestations: Lines of Debate, Analytic Axes, and Methodological Approaches 10. The Ambivalence of Tradition: Heritage, Time, and Violence in Postcolonial Contexts