A1 Journal article (refereed)
EU heritage diplomacy : entangled external and internal cultural relations (2023)

Mäkinen, K., Lähdesmäki, T., Kaasik-Krogerus, S., Čeginskas, V. L. A., & Turunen, J. (2023). EU heritage diplomacy : entangled external and internal cultural relations. The International Journal of Cultural Policy, 29(1), 9-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2022.2141722

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Mäkinen, Katja; Lähdesmäki, Tuuli; Kaasik-Krogerus, Sigrid; Čeginskas, Viktorija L. A.; Turunen, Johanna

Journal or series: The International Journal of Cultural Policy

ISSN: 1028-6632

eISSN: 1477-2833

Publication year: 2023

Publication date: 22/12/2022

Volume: 29

Issue number: 1

Pages range: 9-22

Publisher: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2022.2141722

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access: 

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/85561

Additional information: Artikkeli julkaistu myös teoksessa: Lähdesmäki, T., Čeginskas, V.L.A. (eds.), Heritage Diplomacy : Discourses, Imaginaries and Practices of Heritage and Power. Routledge, 2024. ISBN 9781032535029, eISBN 9781003412380

Abstract

Cultural heritage is an expanding yet contested area of EU policymaking, which has recently been identified as an instrument for EU international cultural relations. In this article, drawing from critical heritage studies and recent scholarship on heritage diplomacy, we see external and internal cultural relations as blurred and deeply entangled in EU heritage policies. Empirically, we focus on the European Heritage Label (EHL), a central EU heritage policy instrument. We explore how heritage practitioners at selected EHL sites and EU heritage policymakers understand and give meanings to international cultural relations and explain the role of cultural heritage in diplomatic endeavours. Our method is a dynamic frame analysis of 44 interviews conducted in the European Commission and at eleven EHL sites in ten European countries. The analysis identified four frames of international cultural relations in the data: relations with non-EU countries for peace and stability building, showcasing and branding of cultural heritage for foreign audiences, creating unity in Europe, and small-scale international heritage projects. These frames manifest different understandings of heritage diplomacy ranging from geoculture to shared heritage and from intercultural encounters to the use of soft power.

Keywords: cultural heritage; cultural relations; cultural policy; European Union countries; international relations; international cooperation; culture; diplomacy; decision making; branding; distinctive marks

Free keywords: European Union; European Heritage Label; international cultural relations; heritage diplomacy

Contributing organizations

Related projects

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2023

JUFO rating: 3