Dialogue in and as European heritage

Abstract
In this article, we scrutinize the use and institutionalization of the concept of ‘dialogue’ in the cultural politics of the European Union. Our focus is on how dialogue is understood in the context of the European Union’s flagship heritage action, the European Heritage Label, that aims to strengthen citizens’ sense of belonging to the Union. Since heritage has gained increasing prominence in the European Union international relations, we also discuss how ‘dialogue’ is institutionalized in the European Heritage Label as part of the European Union’s heritage diplomacy. We approach dialogue in the context of the European Heritage Label as a floating signifier; an ideal seldom explicitly defined and never fully achieved but actively used to organize society and power relations. The empirical data consist of official European Heritage Label reports and interviews conducted with European Union officials and members of the European Heritage Label panel in charge of the selection and awarding of European Heritage Label sites.
Main Authors
Format
Articles Research article
Published
2022
Series
Subjects
Publication in research information system
Publisher
SAGE Publications
The permanent address of the publication
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202303142135Use this for linking
Review status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0047-2441
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/00472441221115568
Language
English
Published in
Journal of European Studies
Citation
License
In CopyrightOpen Access
Funder(s)
Research Council of Finland
Funding program(s)
Academy Project, AoF
Akatemiahanke, SA
Research Council of Finland
Additional information about funding
This work was supported by the Academy of Finland under Grant No. 330602 (HERIDI 2020–2024).
Copyright© Authors 2022

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