Genealogy of the Concept of Heritage in the European Commission’s Policy Discourse

Abstract

This article investigates the genealogy of the concept of heritage in the European Commission’s (EC) policy discourse from 1973 to 2016. Based on conceptual analysis of 2,412 documents gathered from the EUR-Lex database, the uses of the concept in the EC’s policy discourse were categorized into seven thematic areas: nature, environment, and biodiversity; human habitats; economy and employment; agricultural products and foodstuffs; promotion of societal development and stability; audiovisuality and digitalization; and European identity and integration. In the EC’s discourse, the concept of heritage develops in the context of intertwined phases of EU integration and cultural Europeanization. The study indicates how the EC mostly governs heritage through implicit cultural policies included in diverse policy sectors other than culture.