Practical Considerations for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage examines theoretical issues relating to intangible cultural heritage policy and practice, whilst also proposing practical ways to facilitate the safeguarding of such heritage. Providing guidelines for best practice that take into account the constraints of the UNESCO-ICH paradigm, Stefano examines the principles and practices of two alternative and largely non-UNESCO frameworks for sustaining living cultural traditions: the philosophy of ecomuseology, and the discipline of public folklore in the context of the U.S. Arguing that they offer more collaborative, equitable, and effective ways forward for safeguarding ICH, Stefano demonstrates how they can address the limitations of the UNESCO-ICH paradigm. Importantly, the book offers a personal perspective, grounded in the author’s public sector work, which allows the ICH discourse to move beyond critical analysis and explore realistic, alternative ways in which ICH can be collaboratively and equitably safeguarded. Practical Considerations for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage proposes guidelines for professionals, researchers, and communities that foster safeguarding approaches that are as unique and nuanced as ICH expressions themselves. The interdisciplinary nature of the book will ensure that it is useful to those interested in community-led ICH safeguarding, as well as the impacts of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention, in diverse geographic, political, economic, and sociocultural contexts.

This volume examines the implications and consequences of the idea of ‘intangible heritage’ to current international academic and policy debates about the meaning and nature of cultural heritage and the management processes developed to protect it. It provides an accessible account of the different ways in which intangible cultural heritage has been defined and managed in both national and international contexts, and aims to facilitate international debate about the meaning, nature and value of not only intangible cultural heritage, but heritage more generally. Intangible Heritage fills a significant gap in the heritage literature available and represents a significant cross section of ideas and practices associated with intangible cultural heritage. The authors brought together for this volume represent some of the key academics and practitioners working in the area, and discuss research and practices from a range of countries, including: Zimbabwe, Morocco, South Africa, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, USA, Brazil and Indonesia, and bring together a range of areas of expertise which include anthropology, law, heritage studies, archaeology, museum studies, folklore, architecture, Indigenous studies and history.

Wide-ranging essays on intangible cultural heritage, with a focus on its negotiation, its value, and how to protect it.

This book describes the global legal framework for safeguarding the “Intangible Cultural Heritage” – as defined by the UNESCO Convention in 2003 – and analyses its use in selected countries in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. Each of the contributions has been prepared by high profile experts and strategically addresses countries that are representative for their corresponding area. Our understanding of the term “Cultural Heritage” has changed considerably over the past few decades, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the concept also includes traditions and living expressions that we inherit from our ancestors and pass on to our descendants. UNESCO has recognised and responded to this change of perspective, creating through the 2003 Convention an international instrument for safeguarding the “Intangible Cultural Heritage”, a notion including oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, as well as the knowledge and skills needed to produce traditional crafts. New values, practices and heritages were recognized – from the ancient African rituals to the Mexican Mariachi musical expression to the Brazilian Samba and the Mediterranean Diet – all of which convey strong social and cultural meaning for their community's identity. Intangible Cultural Heritage is a growing, relatively recent field of study and also an emblem of the dialogue between distant populations with different cultures, which is the reason why a comparative approach is the most appropriate basis for conducting an analysis of how the contracting states to the Convention live up to their commitments through national safeguarding measures and enhancement policies or through international cooperation projects.

Intangible Heritage and Participation examines participation as an intellectual and operational frame in safeguarding intangible heritage. Including case studies from the Netherlands, Belgium, Aotearoa New Zealand, Greece, Peru, Britain, Denmark, Sweden and Japan, the book provides an analysis of safeguarding as a museological framework and further investigates safeguarding practices in participatory research, memory-work and cultural transmission. Drawing on conversations about ‘the tyranny of participation’, the book looks into the complexities of participatory projects on the ground, from community research and collecting to the mapping of Indigenous values in environmental conservation and processes of active remembering of ‘difficult intangible heritage’ of forced migration, political violence and mental illness. Cautioning against the uncritical adoption of participation as a universal ethical discourse, Alivizatou argues that the ethics of cosmopolitanism should guide safeguarding practices at an international level. Intangible Heritage and Participation offers an original approach to thinking about and working with intangible heritage and, as such, should be essential reading for academics, researchers and students in, among others, the fields of cultural heritage studies, museology, anthropology and cultural development. It should also be of interest to heritage and museum professionals and anyone else interested in cultural heritage theory and practice.

Signed by 170 states, the 2003 UNESCO Intangible Heritage Convention aims to protect the traditional practices, knowledge, and skills that form the mosaic of a community's culture. Blake and Lixinski assemble a team of experts to examine the landmark treaty article-by-article, in a text of vital importance to anyone working in the field.

This collection provides an in-depth and up-to-date examination of the concept of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the issues surrounding its value to society. Critically engaging with the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the book also discusses local-level conceptualizations of living cultural traditions, practices and expressions, and reflects on the efforts that seek to safeguard them. Exploring a global range of case studies, the book considers the diverse perspectives currently involved with intangible cultural heritage and presents a rich picture of the geographic, socioeconomic and political contexts impacting research in this area. With contributions from established and emerging scholars, public servants, professionals, students and community members, this volume is also deeply enhanced by an interdisciplinary approach which draws on the theories and practices of heritage and museum studies, anthropology, folklore studies, ethnomusicology, and the study of cultural policy and related law. The Routledge Companion to Intangible Cultural Heritage undoubtedly broadens the international heritage discourse and is an invaluable learning tool for instructors, students and practitioners in the field.