2021

Lähdesmäki, Tuuli

The European Commission has recently identified cultural heritage as a focus area for EU cultural diplomacy. The article explores EU cultural diplomacy that deals with cultural heritage and develops the concept of heritage diplomacy based on a critical discourse analysis of interviews with EU officials and heritage practitioners working at sites awarded with the European Heritage Label. What do these actors mean by cultural diplomacy and how do they understand the role and potential of cultural heritage for it and with what effects? The analysis indicates that heritage diplomacy means different things for EU officials and heritage practitioners. Their discourses on the uses of cultural heritage for diplomacy constructs certain understandings of cultural heritage and heritage diplomacy, and the power relations between these understandings.