Concerning the Value of Intangible Cultural Heritage: an Ethics of Consumption Approach

Abstract

Intangible Cultural Heritage brings simultaneously a number of areas of value into play: the original meaning of the cultural goods classified as heritage; its contribution to social identity and social continuity as heritage assets; economic consequences from its use in the tourist and cultural industry. This leads to tensions or paradoxes which require an ethical approach. On the one hand, there is an opposition between the conditions for existence of cultural heritage and the conditions for existence of the immaterial cultural goods that are considered heritage. Moreover, a realistic consideration of Intangible Cultural Heritage should link that heritage to the current issues surrounding creation, transmission, enjoyment and exploitation of cultural goods. It is argued that Intangible Cultural Heritage management should insist not so much on the monetary equivalent of the wealth flows yielded by that heritage, but on the social aspects of cultural consumption. As a result, the paper points out a number of results regarding a responsible management of this kind of heritage, and also concerning the justification of public expenditure to its protection.