Hardback
Research Handbook on Contemporary Intangible Cultural Heritage
Law and Heritage
9781786434005 Edward Elgar Publishing
Bringing together key insights from expert legal and heritage academics and practitioners, this book explores the existence and safeguarding of contemporary forms of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Providing a detailed analysis of the international legal frameworks relevant to ICH, the contributing authors then go on to challenge the pervasive view that heritage is about ‘old’ tangible objects by highlighting the existence, role and importance of contemporary forms of ICH to modern society.
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Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
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This Research Handbook explores contemporary intangible cultural heritage (ICH) from the perspectives of both law and heritage. It questions, probes and interrogates many different aspects of contemporary ICH, including the definitions and legal frameworks designed to safeguard it. In doing so the Research Handbook highlights not only gaps and inconsistencies, but also questions the relevance of the legal framework as it applies to ICH itself.
Each chapter is concerned with a different aspect of contemporary ICH, international treaties and the law, including the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. A diverse range of contemporary examples are explored, ranging from the local and global identity of migrant children, to language and the Berlin techno music scene. Taken collectively, and with its focus on ‘contemporary’ culture, this Research Handbook is a departure from the established discourse that tends to include some forms of heritage to the exclusion of others. The authors challenge the authority of existing legal instruments, expose their limitations and propose innovative ways in which contemporary forms of ICH can be safeguarded, whether via the law or other means.
This innovative Research Handbook will be of great interest to academics researching the legal protection of ICH and the relationship between ICH, human rights, communities, identity and international trade. Those with an interest in the protection of a-typical intellectual property will also find this Research Handbook to be a source of valuable information.
Each chapter is concerned with a different aspect of contemporary ICH, international treaties and the law, including the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. A diverse range of contemporary examples are explored, ranging from the local and global identity of migrant children, to language and the Berlin techno music scene. Taken collectively, and with its focus on ‘contemporary’ culture, this Research Handbook is a departure from the established discourse that tends to include some forms of heritage to the exclusion of others. The authors challenge the authority of existing legal instruments, expose their limitations and propose innovative ways in which contemporary forms of ICH can be safeguarded, whether via the law or other means.
This innovative Research Handbook will be of great interest to academics researching the legal protection of ICH and the relationship between ICH, human rights, communities, identity and international trade. Those with an interest in the protection of a-typical intellectual property will also find this Research Handbook to be a source of valuable information.
Critical Acclaim
‘This book is an excellent and extremely welcome addition to the libraries of a wide and interdisciplinary range of readers dealing with intangible cultural heritage, including researchers, practitioners and policymakers, in both legal and non-legal disciplines. This is an important book not only for the enhancement of knowledge already achieved between its covers, but also in view of its great potential for inspiring further work in the still under-studied field of contemporary ICH.’
– Paula Westenberger, IPKat
‘... this book opens up a rich field of thinking about intangibles as cultural heritage. Focusing on contemporary forms of intangible cultural heritage (“ICH”), the various chapters explore how different legal regimes, from human rights, to trade, IP and heritage law clash and interact, prompting us to think about their different rationales. Overall, this handbook does not provide what one would normally expect from a handbook: a structure and a sense of coherence to a field of research. This should be seen as one of its main accomplishments. Instead of projecting an artificial sense of coherence, the various chapters together convey how intangible cultural heritage is a dynamic, pluralist and contested field of research. The editors’ aim of encouraging thinking “beyond the walls” of disciplines and legal regimes is largely accomplished. For those unfamiliar with research on intangible cultural heritage, this book is an excellent point of entry into the topic.’
– Luís Bogliolo, Intellectual Property Forum: the journal of The Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand
‘For those interested in ICH generally, this set of essays serves up some novel and well researched food for thought. Because ICH does not enjoy a single definition or established place in the law, the authors’ work to question existing avenues of discourse breathes some fresh life into the topic by going back to first principles. It re-introduces readers to the types of living expressions that comprise ICH, whose vibrancy bolsters intercultural dialogue, and encourages mutual respect for other ways of life.’
– Molly Torsen Stech, Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice
‘This excellent Research Handbook focuses on contemporary forms of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) which are too often neglected in current discussions. The Research Handbook is varied in its geographical scope with case studies and examples drawn from countries as diverse as the UK, the Netherlands, Indonesia and Zimbabwe amongst others. It explains the framework of contemporary ICH, the major debates within the field and how use is being made of ICH in many different areas such as minority politics, trade, human rights, copyright, cultural landscapes and by national governments as well as local communities. This is an important book for anyone seeking a thorough understanding of the law and politics of contemporary ICH and the often uneasy co-existence of global, national and local interests and policy making in this field.’
– Christoph Antons, Newcastle Law School, Australia
‘This remarkable interdisciplinary collection is a tour de force. The stellar cast of authors offers unique critical discourses on how tradition, heritage, and contemporary culture interact with each other and with cultural policy and law including intellectual property and human rights – as viewed from both international and communitarian perspectives.’
– Uma Suthersanen, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
‘This Research Handbook provides a comprehensive interdisciplinary discussion on a number of important aspects of intangible cultural heritage. It considers not only matters of (legal) definition and problems of protection or the notion of “protecting”, but also issues like human rights, identity of individuals and communities, or the preservation of living cultural heritage in art and language. This volume is a must-have for academics and policymakers, including for those who are not lawyers but need to deal with them.’
– Andreas Rahmatian, University of Glasgow, UK
– Paula Westenberger, IPKat
‘... this book opens up a rich field of thinking about intangibles as cultural heritage. Focusing on contemporary forms of intangible cultural heritage (“ICH”), the various chapters explore how different legal regimes, from human rights, to trade, IP and heritage law clash and interact, prompting us to think about their different rationales. Overall, this handbook does not provide what one would normally expect from a handbook: a structure and a sense of coherence to a field of research. This should be seen as one of its main accomplishments. Instead of projecting an artificial sense of coherence, the various chapters together convey how intangible cultural heritage is a dynamic, pluralist and contested field of research. The editors’ aim of encouraging thinking “beyond the walls” of disciplines and legal regimes is largely accomplished. For those unfamiliar with research on intangible cultural heritage, this book is an excellent point of entry into the topic.’
– Luís Bogliolo, Intellectual Property Forum: the journal of The Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand
‘For those interested in ICH generally, this set of essays serves up some novel and well researched food for thought. Because ICH does not enjoy a single definition or established place in the law, the authors’ work to question existing avenues of discourse breathes some fresh life into the topic by going back to first principles. It re-introduces readers to the types of living expressions that comprise ICH, whose vibrancy bolsters intercultural dialogue, and encourages mutual respect for other ways of life.’
– Molly Torsen Stech, Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice
‘This excellent Research Handbook focuses on contemporary forms of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) which are too often neglected in current discussions. The Research Handbook is varied in its geographical scope with case studies and examples drawn from countries as diverse as the UK, the Netherlands, Indonesia and Zimbabwe amongst others. It explains the framework of contemporary ICH, the major debates within the field and how use is being made of ICH in many different areas such as minority politics, trade, human rights, copyright, cultural landscapes and by national governments as well as local communities. This is an important book for anyone seeking a thorough understanding of the law and politics of contemporary ICH and the often uneasy co-existence of global, national and local interests and policy making in this field.’
– Christoph Antons, Newcastle Law School, Australia
‘This remarkable interdisciplinary collection is a tour de force. The stellar cast of authors offers unique critical discourses on how tradition, heritage, and contemporary culture interact with each other and with cultural policy and law including intellectual property and human rights – as viewed from both international and communitarian perspectives.’
– Uma Suthersanen, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
‘This Research Handbook provides a comprehensive interdisciplinary discussion on a number of important aspects of intangible cultural heritage. It considers not only matters of (legal) definition and problems of protection or the notion of “protecting”, but also issues like human rights, identity of individuals and communities, or the preservation of living cultural heritage in art and language. This volume is a must-have for academics and policymakers, including for those who are not lawyers but need to deal with them.’
– Andreas Rahmatian, University of Glasgow, UK
Contributors
Contributors: L. Belder, J. Blake, M.R. Blakely, A.E.L. Brown, J. Brown, N. Chipangura, L. Colomer, C. Cummings, Y. Donders, A. Figaroa, S. Harding, L. Lixinski, F. Macmillan, M. Pavis, J. Schofield, V. Vadi, A. Vaivade, J. van Donkersgoed, C. Waelde
Contents
Contents:
Introduction to the Research Handbook on Contemporary Intangible Cultural Heritage
Charlotte Waelde, Catherine Cummings, Mathilde Pavis and Helena Enright
Part I The Framework of Contemporary Intangible Cultural Heritage
1. Regional and International Treaties on Intangible Cultural Heritage: Between Tradition and Contemporary Culture
Lucas Lixinski
2. Contemporary ICH: Between Community and Market
Fiona Macmillan
3. Protection and Promotion of Cultural Heritage and Human Rights though International Treaties: Two Worlds of Difference?
Yvonne Donders
4. Contemporary ICH and the Right to Exclude
Sarah Harding
Part II Debates Within Contemporary Intangible Cultural Heritage
5. ICH, Cultural Diversity and Sustainable Development
Abbe E. L. Brown
6. ICH and Human Rights: ICH, Contemporary Culture and Human Rights
Charlotte Waelde
7. ICH as a Source of Identity: International Law and Deontology
Anita Vaivade
8. ICH and Identity: the use of ICH Among Global Multicultural Citizens
Laia Colomer
9. ICH and Authority: Lawless ‘DIY’ Approaches to Contemporary ICH
John Schofield
10. ICH and Authority: The Welsh Language and Statutory Change
Megan Rae Blakely
11. ICH and Safeguarding: Legal Dimensions of Safeguarding the ICH of Non-dominant and Counter-Culture Social Groups
Janet Blake
12. ICH and safeguarding: Museums and Contemporary ICH (Let the Objects out of their Cases and Make them Sing)
Catherine Cummings
13. ICH and Safeguarding: Uncovering the Cultural Heritage Discourse of Copyright
Mathilde Pavis
Part III Contemporary Intangible Cultural Heritage and its Uses
14. Living Cultural Heritage in the Netherlands: the Debate on the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas
Lucky Belder and Aydan Figaroa
15. ICH as the Prime Asset of a Cultural Landscape and Seascape: A Case Study of the Banda Islands, Indonesia
Joëlla van Donkersgoed and Jessica Brown
16. Cultural Heritage Sites and Contemporary Uses: Finding a Balance between Monumentality and Intangibility in Eastern Zimbabwe
Njabulo Chipangura
17. ICH and Trade
Valentina Vadi
Index
Introduction to the Research Handbook on Contemporary Intangible Cultural Heritage
Charlotte Waelde, Catherine Cummings, Mathilde Pavis and Helena Enright
Part I The Framework of Contemporary Intangible Cultural Heritage
1. Regional and International Treaties on Intangible Cultural Heritage: Between Tradition and Contemporary Culture
Lucas Lixinski
2. Contemporary ICH: Between Community and Market
Fiona Macmillan
3. Protection and Promotion of Cultural Heritage and Human Rights though International Treaties: Two Worlds of Difference?
Yvonne Donders
4. Contemporary ICH and the Right to Exclude
Sarah Harding
Part II Debates Within Contemporary Intangible Cultural Heritage
5. ICH, Cultural Diversity and Sustainable Development
Abbe E. L. Brown
6. ICH and Human Rights: ICH, Contemporary Culture and Human Rights
Charlotte Waelde
7. ICH as a Source of Identity: International Law and Deontology
Anita Vaivade
8. ICH and Identity: the use of ICH Among Global Multicultural Citizens
Laia Colomer
9. ICH and Authority: Lawless ‘DIY’ Approaches to Contemporary ICH
John Schofield
10. ICH and Authority: The Welsh Language and Statutory Change
Megan Rae Blakely
11. ICH and Safeguarding: Legal Dimensions of Safeguarding the ICH of Non-dominant and Counter-Culture Social Groups
Janet Blake
12. ICH and safeguarding: Museums and Contemporary ICH (Let the Objects out of their Cases and Make them Sing)
Catherine Cummings
13. ICH and Safeguarding: Uncovering the Cultural Heritage Discourse of Copyright
Mathilde Pavis
Part III Contemporary Intangible Cultural Heritage and its Uses
14. Living Cultural Heritage in the Netherlands: the Debate on the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas
Lucky Belder and Aydan Figaroa
15. ICH as the Prime Asset of a Cultural Landscape and Seascape: A Case Study of the Banda Islands, Indonesia
Joëlla van Donkersgoed and Jessica Brown
16. Cultural Heritage Sites and Contemporary Uses: Finding a Balance between Monumentality and Intangibility in Eastern Zimbabwe
Njabulo Chipangura
17. ICH and Trade
Valentina Vadi
Index
