Ruperto Carola Ringvorlesung Intangible heritage politics and the (unattainable) goal of reducing inequalities

The UNESCO-defined intangible cultural heritage or living heritage domain and its management is fundamentally retrospective, and yet by its political alignment suggests pursuit the UN futurist Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals. This talk will particularly engage with the goal of reducing inequalities. The critical inquiry unpacks the entangled socio-economic implications and resource command in relation to designated heritage practices. Remarkable sites of meaning emerge here for minority groups which project the absence of rights to self-determination. Alongside resource command, these reflections analyse inequalities in the politics of recognition. The ethnographic material is based on long-term fieldwork at ICH-related targeted meetings.

Pressemitteilung

Kristin Kuutma (University of Tartu) is Professor of Cultural Studies and holds the UNESCO Chair for Applied Studies of Intangible Cultural Heritage. She also leads the UT programme of the Graduate School of Culture Studies and Arts. Between 2006 and 2010 she represented Estonia on the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Kuutma has carried out extensive fieldwork on the 2003 Convention in respect of policymaking and implementation on the international and the local level. Her publications in cultural anthropology focus on disciplinary histories, knowledge production, representation, and critical heritage studies.