Heritage Discourses

Abstract

This chapter explores a variety of discourses in heritage protection. It starts by explaining and exploring the multiple ways of characterising and classifying heritage. Within public and international law, selected forms of heritage are protected in mostly consistent, though at times culturally distinct, ways. The chapter emphasises the influence of international law as providing a universal protection regime for widely accepted forms of heritage that has generally been incorporated into public laws of nations or has acted as an overarching influence which has been gradually adopted by initially reluctant nations. It also highlights how other forms or interpretations of ‘heritage’ at a national level are perceived and protected, often mimicking the international regime, while not necessarily being protected under it.

Presenting the different categories and understandings of ‘heritage’ underscores the term’s dynamism. Heritage does not mean just one thing, and it is not used consistently in language and argument. Heritage concepts change over time and this evolution is reflected in policies and legal instruments at an international and domestic level. The chapter shows how ‘heritage’ is used as a discourse in a variety of contexts relying on environmental theories to promote conservation of places, communities and cultures. While this continuing flux of heritage discourses can be confusing, it is often a richly rewarding interplay between what is regarded as of value and worth legally protecting, and what can be left to one side in the continuous march of seemingly inevitable ‘development’.

Keywords: Cultural heritage, World Heritage, UNESCO, heritage law, cultural rights