This paper commences with a discussion of the various political and cultural factors that are currently engendering a state of uncertainty in numerous rural areas of Europe. In the light of UNESCO's promotion of Intangible Cultural Heritage label as a governance instrument to mitigate this uncertain situation, the subsequent discussion will address the implications and functions of this form of recognition. The paper concludes with a reflection of cultural resilience, a theoretical concept that is increasingly being used in current interdisciplinary discourse.
This study endeavours to analyse the seemingly surprising attitude of the local society towards its position of being listed in the Regional Inventory of the Collection of Hungarian Values. In 2015, a regional inventory of cultural heritage was established in the Nyarad Valley, a rural area of mostly Hungarian population in Transylvania, Romania. The creation of the regional inventory was a project of the local LEADER Association, which aimed to develop rural tourism by creating and promoting a touristic image of the region. Some elements from the village Szentgerice were also inscribed into the regional inventory, however, the list has remained almost completely unknown to most of the locals. Despite the list's obscurity, local heritage is not without significance in the village. A comparison of the development strategy of the LEADER Association for the rural area, and local patterns of action shows that through these different ways of managing material and immaterial resources, different visions of cultural heritage and the role it could play in the future of this rural area can be discerned.
This paper examines the questions of the extent to which networking processes are initiated in rural areas by designating a cultural form of expression on the National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Germany (ICH). On the basis of two ICH-forms from Rhineland-Palatinate ( Meadow Irrigation in the Queichwiesen Between Landau and Germersheim) and Bavaria ( The Upper Palatinate Culture of Zoiglbeer) that have already been listed for Germany, we discuss how the distinction offers a platform for learning processes and the exchange of experiences, but also how it carries the risk of exclusion and demarcation.
In 2014, the national minority of the Lusatian Sorbs, with its "Social customs and festivals throughout the year", was included in the first listing of the German UNESCO commission's Nationwide Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The applicants hoped that this inclusion would strengthen the minority's political position and make it more visible to the public. Based on these expectations from the Sorbian side, the article deals on the one hand with reactions to the application and how the Sorbs dealt with it. It examines the opportunities the listing opened up for cultural policy representatives of the minority and the impact the entry had on the bearers of cultural practices. On the other hand, a critical academic reflection is undertaken on the after-effects of the entry concerning the production of "cultural security". This is intended to emphasise the important role that research perspectives relevant to minorities play in dealing with the demand for the transfer of knowledge into practice.
This study focuses on puppetry, which is recognized on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as a joint nomination by Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It critically analyses the perspectives and attitudes of culture bearers regarding the significance and recognition of intangible cultural heritage. The recognition of Puppetry as part of the UNESCO List highlights prevailing attitudes and conceptual frameworks surrounding intangible cultural heritage in the Czech Republic. Puppeteers exhibit a range of emotional responses regarding the award, reflecting not only their personal beliefs but also their cultural and social dimensions. This phenomenon underscores the existing tensions between the traditional practices of puppetry and the institutional frameworks tasked with its preservation and innovation.
By analysing two elements that are inscribed in the National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Serbia, this article examines the impact of an ICH inscription on rural communities. The first example is the craft of weaving the Stapar carpets/kilims, which has been preserved among the female population of the village of Stapar, Province of Vojvodina (Northern Serbia). The second example is naive Slovak painting, which encompasses the knowledge and skills of self-taught painters - members of the Slovak minority in Serbia, mainly in the Banat region. Both inscriptions encompass economic and political objectives: from creating jobs to gaining international recognition. Since the inscription, a growing difference in the understanding of these elements and some "loose threads" between the bearers, institutions, local authorities, and heritage experts have emerged. The paper focuses on the implementation of safe-guarding plans and how the relationships between the stakeholders and the different definitions of risk and conservation measures affect the process.
Given the increasing over-exploitation of the world, renunciation is negotiated as a possibility or necessity to address the crisis through practices of reduction. As plausible as this demand seems and as widespread as renunciation practices are in everyday contexts, the discursive rejection of the term renunciation is in need of explanation. This is especially noted among actors who can be described as minimalists or environmental activists, and who can thus be considered fundamentally reductive. The aversion to the term is reconstructed by clarifying the concept of renunciation and examining its discursive rejection among these social actors. Firstly, it has to do with its everyday reduction to loss or prohibition. Secondly, with the difficulty of communicating the moments of increasing quality of voluntary action, justice, and habituation in connection with reductive forms of consumption.
