This article analyzes the relationship between deindustrialization and industrial heritage byconsidering recent studies on the topic. Although Deindustrialization Studies and (Industrial)Heritage Studies focus on distinct phases of industrial change - schematically a "before" and an "after" of the history of industry. These fields increasingly converge on the role of the memory ofthe industrial past in the present. The essay examines these convergences in the Italian contextand looks at the history of industrial archaeology and the difficulty of recognizing a specifically "Italian deindustrialization". It argues that history, especially environmental and labor history,can play an important role in this dialogue. In the last part, the article focuses on the industrialarea of Porto Marghera (near Venice), and analyzes the major cultural events organized forits centenary. It argues that this is an example both of "deindustrialization without industrialheritage" and of "industrial heritage without memory of deindustrialization". This prevents ashared elaboration about the industrial past as well as the future of the area.
Keywords: Deindustrialization studies, Heritage studies, industrial heritage, labour history,Italy, Porto Marghera (Venice)