About this Book

What happens when UNESCO heritage conventions are ratified by a state?
How do UNESCO’s global efforts interact with preexisting local, regional
and state efforts to conserve or promote culture? What new institutions
emerge to address the mandate? The contributors to this volume focus on
the work of translation and interpretation that ensues once heritage
conventions are ratified and implemented. With seventeen case studies
from Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and China, the volume provides
comparative evidence for the divergent heritage regimes generated in
states that differ in history and political organization. The cases
illustrate how UNESCO’s aspiration to honor and celebrate cultural
diversity diversifies itself. The very effort to adopt a global heritage
regime forces myriad adaptations to particular state and interstate
modalities of building and managing heritage.