Abstract
The article demonstrates 1) how the corpus of international law related to cultural heritage – much of it facilitated by UNESCO – establishes a conceptual framework for cultural heritage as an expression of international consensus within this field, and 2) how the 2015 Recommendation on Documentary Heritage is an inherent component of this framework. Each convention/recommendation has its own focus, but ultimately, they are concerned with the same overall concept, namely, the safeguarding of heritage and diversity through a three-step methodological process consisting of identification, protection, and transmission. From this epistemological basis a common methodological framework for culture heritage management arises, encompassing also documentary heritage. The article discusses the evolution of this paradigm and how the concepts of “authenticity,” “continuity,” and “credibility” may assist in the determination of cultural manifestations’ “value” – including the value of documentary heritage. Finally, the article argues that within the common methodological framework for safeguarding heritage, documentary heritage may be identified as phenomenological sources of credible information upon which judgments of heritage value may be based, and conservation priorities set. The article discusses the 2015 Recommendation in the context of international law related to cultural heritage. As introduction to the authoritative texts of international legislation, specialized terminology, and related interpretative texts, the article emphasizes the depth of reflection gone into their formulation and the authority they have as a result of this process. The article’s technical character, however, is not internal to UNESCO but derived from international discourse on international law and heritage management, the only authoritative context for a discussion of the 2015 Recommendation and its methodology.
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Notes
- 1.
For a brief introduction to UNESCO, see Edmondson, Jordan, and Prodan in this volume.
- 2.
For an explanation of the normative instruments of UNESCO see Edmondson, Jordan and Prodan in this volume. See also Jarvis in this volume.
- 3.
For a full listing of the international legal instruments facilitated by UNESCO, see: http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13649&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=-471.html. These legal instruments are, of course, linked to the standard-setting work of the UN and other international agencies and hence to the body of international law more widely, in particular the Universal Declaration on Human Rights of 1948, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966.
- 4.
“International Standards” address common global needs and challenges, outlining definitions, priorities, procedures for action, etc. for a specific field. International standards reflect the combined experience of professionals, researchers, consumers, and regulators, worldwide. International Standards are widely adopted by governments and local authorities and are used as reference in national laws or regulations. UN has played a significant role in the development of a body of international law expressed through conventions, treaties, and standards that facilitates social and economic development as well as international collaboration and trade throughout the world. For more information see, for example, http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/international-law-and-justice/index.html. International Standards are developed, adopted, and made available to the public by international standards organizations following agreed procedures for standards development and approval. The most well-established of the many international standards organizations include the International Organization for Standardization (1947), the International Electrotechnical Commission (1906), and the International Telecommunication Union (1865). UNESCO’s Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs is responsible for assisting in the drawing up and application of international standard-setting instruments and to exercise depository functions of the Director-General in relation to international treaties.
- 5.
See footnote 3 above.
- 6.
UNESCO Constitution (1945) as an intergovernmental (rather than a supra-national) international organization UNESCO’s authority and role vis-à-vis the implementation of its various programmes in individual countries is advisory rather than sovereign. With regard to the international conventions in the field of cultural and natural heritage adopted in 1954, 1970, 1972, 2001, 2003, and 2005, respectively, UNESCO is explicitly named (and so mandated by the States Parties signatories to the conventions) to act as the secretariat for the execution of these. Hence, while UNESCO does not have extra-territorial authority to enforce the terms of the conventions in sovereign States Parties, the moral authority and technical credibility of the organization, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, are brought to bear in helping to assure the implementation of these international treaty agreements.
- 7.
The idea of protecting cultural heritage during armed conflict can actually be traced as far back as the Treaty of Westphalia from 1648. For more information, see UNESCO (2005b).
- 8.
- 9.
This notion was then picked up by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Human Development Report 2004: Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World (UNDP 2004), which linked cultural diversity to the human rights discourse, and saw the concept as a tool for conflict resolution, and to “successfully confront the challenge of how to build inclusive, culturally diverse societies” (p. v).
- 10.
This led, between 2001 and 2005, to the Proclamation of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, ultimately replaced with the 2003 Intangible Heritage Convention.
- 11.
See Helen Jarvis in this volume.
- 12.
Archives have received long-standing attention by the international community: Institute for Intellectual Co-operation creates a Permanent Consultative Committee on Archives in 1931 under the aegis of the League of Nations, which among other things produced the first International Guide on Archives (1934). In 1948 followed the creation of the International Council on Archives. With support from UNESCO, the international collaboration on archives is an example of how the UN encourages international collaboration through international NGOs and national agencies rather than directly through, for example, UNESCO.
- 13.
Implemented by UNESCO Communication and Information Sector since 1992, the Memory of the World Programme maintains an International Register as well as Regional and National Registers of inscribed documentary heritage meeting the criteria for world significance. See Roslyn Russell in this volume.
- 14.
The issue of “aspirational” vs. “operational” has to do with the distinction between different forms of UNESCO normative instruments. While MoW is an “aspirational” document, the Recommendation (like all UNESCO Recommendations) are intended to give “operational” guidance for the practical realization of more abstract “aspirations.”
- 15.
The Warsaw Declaration was the outcome of the fourth International UNESCO Memory of the World Conference held in Warsaw, 2011.
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Engelhardt, R.A., Askerud, P. (2020). Methodological Convergence: Documentary Heritage and the International Framework for Cultural Heritage Protection. In: Edmondson, R., Jordan, L., Prodan, A.C. (eds) The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Heritage Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18441-4_8
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