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Posts Tagged ‘Policy’

The Subtle Power of Intangible Heritage

Cultural policy can contribute to social and economic development by growing our cultural capital, promoting local identity and promoting global cultural diversity. Tangible and intangible heritage forms a crucial part of this cultural capital and needs to be safeguarded. At the International Network on Cultural Policy (INCP-RIPC) meeting in Cape Town in October 2002, member states decided to adopt and to implement national policies to protect and promote cultural heritage. South Africa and Senegal agreed to write a research report analysing the legal and financial instruments currently employed by countries and regions to safeguard their intangible heritage.
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Heritage Conservation and Japan’s Cultural Diplomacy: Heritage, National Identity and National Interest

Japan’s heritage conservation policy and practice, as deployed through its foreign aid programs, has become one of the main means through which post-World War II Japan has sought to mark its presence in the international arena, both globally and regionally. Heritage conservation has been intimately linked to Japan’s sense of national identity, in addition to its self-portrayal as a responsible global and regional citizen.

This book explores the concepts of heritage, nationalism and Japanese national identity in the context of Japanese and international history since the second half of the nineteenth century. In doing so, it shows how Japan has built on its distinctive approach to conservation to develop a heritage-based strategy, which has been used as part of its cultural diplomacy designed to increase its ‘soft power’ both globally and within the Asian region. More broadly, Natsuko Akagawa underlines the theoretical nexus between the politics of heritage conservation, cultural diplomacy and national interest, and in turn highlights how issues of heritage conservation practice and policy are crucial to a comprehensive understanding of geo-politics. Heritage Conservation and Japan’s Cultural Diplomacy will be of great interest to students, scholars and professionals working in the fields of heritage and museum studies, heritage conservation, international relations and Asian/Japanese studies.
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Embedding shared heritage: the cultural heritage rights of London’s African ad Asian diaspora communities

Although heritage agencies responsible for the management of world heritage sites are being challenged to incorporate intangible heritage into the nomination, inscription and management systems, there is still very little attention paid in the UK to engaging diaspora and immigrant communities in these processes. The presence of such African and Asian communities in the UK dates back more than 500 years and they form a significant and rising proportion of London’s population. This case study describes a major initiative undertaken by the office of the mayor of London in 2003–2006 that sought to embed the cultural heritage rights of African and Asian diaspora communities into the management of the city’s heritage spaces in a way that aimed to ensure that their heritage is seen as part of the national story. This London case thus provides very valuable lessons for the management of world heritage sites in the UK and Europe.
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