New publication by WNPiSM researchers: ‘Where is ‘democracy’ in ‘the most democratic heritage treaty’?’

The International Journal of Heritage Studies published an article by Professor Hanna Schreiber, Head of the UNESCO Chair for Public and Global Processes of Intangible Cultural Heritage Management at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw (WNPiSM UW), and Dr. Julia Krzesicka-Haberko, Assistant at the UNESCO Chair, WNPiSM UW, titled ‘Where is ‘democracy’ in ‘the most democratic heritage treaty’?’

The article critically analyzes the extent to which and in what sense the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage is ‘democratic’ – both in its declarations and in its management practices. The authors identify four approaches to democracy using Elinor Ostrom’s institutional analysis framework and demonstrate how its various forms manifest at the level of community actions, intergovernmental procedures, and the Convention’s constitutive norms. In the context of a global democratic regression, the publication clarifies the debate and indicates where democracy within this regime is understood as a political system, and where it is a grassroots practice, a cherished value, or a procedure for action.

The work was developed as part of research grant no. 2019/35/D/HS5/04247 from the National Science Centre Sonata 15: ‘Between World and Humanity Heritage: Examining International Heritage Regimes through Elinor Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis,’ led by Professor Hanna Schreiber.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2025.2595082