Intangible Heritage as a Bureaucratic Project and Governmental Tool : Critical Reflections

Abstract

This paper understands intangible cultural heritage as the effect of bureaucratic, legal and political interventions. Intangible cultural heritage does not simply exist－it is the result of valorization and valuation processes. Certain professional actors define what intangible cultural heritage is. Consequently, this excludes other forms of traditional or popular culture which are not marked, labelled and valorized as authorized intangible cultural heritage. The most powerful globally acting institution is UNESCO. And on national levels, nation states define intangible cultural heritage within national frames of reference. Hence, intangible cultural heritage is always linked to power, to logics of the market and to legal and political frames. Arguing from the perspective of critical heritage studies, the paper understands intangible cultural heritage as a powerful political and bureaucratic resource. But what are the effects of globally acting heritage regimes which transform traditional or popular culture into a manageable good, a resource or cultural property? From a cultural anthropological perspective, all cultural expressions which are labelled as authorized intangible cultural heritage by the nation state or UNESCO are dynamic and in constant change. However, heritage interventions often tend to freeze these cultural expressions, for example by installing national heritage inventories and lists. How can one discuss the tension between constant change(e.g. of performative practices like local customs or oral traditions) and the ways intangible heritage is safeguarded? In accordance to UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage the paper conceptualizes heritage as an important tool to raise awareness for the value of popular and traditional culture, its diversity and its role in the context of intercultural dialogue. On the other hand, it discusses challenges that come with the instrumentalization of intangible cultural heritage, e.g. to manage and control ethnic minorities or vernacular culture in general.