FRÅN FOLKLORE TILL KULTURELLA RÄTTIGHETER: En kvalitativ studie av implementeringen av UNESCO:s konvention om tryggandet av det immateriella kulturarvet i Sverige

Abstract

Intangible cultural heritage is living traditions, customs and practices that have been transmitted between generations over time. It can be stories, music, dance, traditional crafts, ceremonies, rituals and festivals from our creative diversity that are part of people's community and identity. In this master's thesis, a critical review of the implementation of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (CSICH) 2003 in Sweden is carried out from a human rights perspective. The Convention states that member states shall draw up inventories of their intangible cultural heritage and stresses that local communities, groups and, where appropriate, individuals shall be involved and given influence in its management. The Convention states that the negative aspects of globalization constitute a threat to the intangible cultural heritage which must therefore be protected. The right to tangible and intangible cultural heritage falls under the right to culture or cultural identity. Based on a qualitative method, representative participants in the implementation work in Sweden are interviewed, with an emphasis on participants from civil society, practitioners, non-profit organizations and local communities within intangible cultural heritage. The aim is to be able to say something about their experiences of the convention work in practice and how it has affected their practice and their activities. Based on this empirical data and previous research, the paper examines how well Sweden fulfils its international law obligations regarding cultural rights. The analysis is inspired by critical discourse analysis and is based on three theories: implementation theory, identity theory and Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA). An important starting point for the study is that the language of rights is often omitted in Swedish legislation. The result shows that practitioners, non-profit organizations and local communities are underrepresented in the convention work, which seems to be associated with the convention being implemented top-down. The entire implementation chain is characterized by language barriers, lack of continuity and shortcomings in outreach work. There are several reasons for this, partly because the assignment is underfunded, partly because of unclear writings regarding responsibility for rights and the division of responsibilities between the parties in political instruments, and the development of the concept from folklore to intangible cultural heritage. In addition, UNESCO's increased bureaucratization has legitimized that experts (representatives of state authorities) are given interpretative priority. At the same time, intangible cultural heritage has been given a new status through international law; from having been downgraded at the national level for a long time to gaining legitimacy through Sweden's accession to the convention. Conclusions that can be drawn are that the Swedish state and the indigenous Sami people have been given a more prominent position, while other national minorities and other groups within civil society have been more in the background. This has created an imbalance between the national minorities and a vacuum in civil society within the majority population. It shows that fundamental human rights and freedoms must take precedence over cultural rights in order for cultural rights to be protected for everyone, a conclusion that is consistent with General Comment No. 21 to the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). To ensure that the government fulfills its international law obligations regarding cultural rights, Sweden should ratify the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR.