Towards a contemporary approach to the study of development & cultural heritage

Abstract

The interest for understanding the relationship between Development and Culture, and specifically Cultural Heritage, has increased during the 21st century. During the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (2002), representatives from different contexts acknowledged the role of Culture as a pillar of Development. This recognition has been recently recalled by the Hangzhou Declaration (2013), which proposed to include Culture as a fundamental principle of the post-2015 UN development agenda. However, the notion of Development – as much as that of Cultural Heritage, both embrace complex and dynamic natures, which have been only partially understood. Development as growth and Cultural Heritage as limited to the arts, are known to have negative implications in other areas (social, environmental, cultural). In spite of the recent advances to clarify each of these notions, the bridge between theory and practical actions, is still a debt. This article aims to develop a baseline for the study of the binomial Development and Cultural Heritage. As a first approach, a retrospective analysis is presented in order to reveal the theoretical advances influencing the adoption of the terms, and to build a contemporary understanding of these notions. In this regard, key moments on the evolution of the relationship between Development & Cultural Heritage are examined through the lens of the leading international organizations on each field: The United Nations (UN) Head of development studies, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in the Cultural field. The article then discusses preliminary findings on the theoretical gaps and concludes by identifying their potential challenges.