Negotiating intangibles: the power, place, and prestige of NGOs in heritage governance

• Published in: International journal of heritage studies : IJHS 2020-08, Vol.26 (8), p.719-736
• Main Author: Escallón, Maria Fernanda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Conventions; Cultural heritage; expertise; Intangible cultural heritage; non-governmental organisations; Power; prestige; UNESCO
• ISSN: 1352-7258; 1470-3610
• DOI: 10.1080/13527258.2019.1693416

In recent years, there has been increased scholarly attention devoted to the politics behind decision-making processes in multilateral organisations like the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). For heritage studies, this trend has been particularly important, as it has expanded interest in the networks of power created by UNESCO conventions and their often-unpredictable global impacts. In this article, I examine the role of NGO representatives as governing bodies of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in order to show how, despite their limited power, these delegates are increasing the relevance of the ICH Convention albeit in paradoxical ways. While fighting to secure their own position within the 2003 Convention, NGOs are entrenching an exclusionary canon of heritage expertise and reinstating the significance of geo-political borders between the Global North and South. I highlight how these new configurations of power based on private know-how end up restructuring the arena of political debate, steering the conversation away from local communities' cultural rights and their effective control over the resources needed for those rights to be exercised.