CONCEPTUALIZATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION AS A SOFT POWER INSTRUMENT

Abstract

The article examines the “transformation” of the concept of “protection of cultural heritage” in the context of current international relations. The development in modern political science discourse of such theories as securitization of cultural heritage, “geocultural” power, and diplomacy of cultural heritage allows us to talk about a change, or rather, an expansion of the meaning of the term field “protection of cultural heritage.” Based on an analysis of scientific works devoted to the study of the role of cultural heritage in international political processes, as well as specialized UNESCO reports on the connection between the UN sustainable development goals and culture in general, and reports of some specialized structures (for example, the British Council), the following conclusions can be drawn. First, in the last decade, the potential of cultural heritage for state foreign policy and international heritage management has attracted increasing interest among researchers from different countries. At the moment, there is no single or established definition of heritage diplomacy. In earlier studies, heritage diplomacy has generally been associated with multinational cooperation in international heritage management within the framework of UNESCO. More recent concepts of heritage diplomacy have expanded to include more policy areas, such as sustainable development policy. Secondly, the concept of cultural heritage for international cultural relations should be conceptualized as a present- and future-oriented process through which realities are constructed from selected elements of the past. Thirdly, the political dimension of cultural heritage acts as an arena for the manifestation and negotiation of (dissonant) meanings, values and identities.