Intangible Cultural Heritage and Reconciliation in the Western Balkans - An Anthropological Perspective

This book considers the sensitive heritage elements linked to the very issue of the origins of nations. Beliefs, rituals, and traditional knowledge are examples of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), which communities globally regard as the core of their cultural identity. When it is unclear which element of heritage "belongs" to whom, like in the Western Balkans, where the majority of heritage elements are shared, ICH disputes exacerbate conflict. Its mishandling is especially acute when minority heritage is excluded from governmental cultural policies. With a focus on Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, this book has a global thematic scope, theoretical depth, and policy relevance to the scholars of anthropology and heritage studies as well as to those interested in cultural diversity, human rights, and cultural and educational policies. It will serve as a guide for those who professionally use cultural heritage, or want to start doing so, in the processes of reconciliation, stabilization, and development.

List of contents

Acknowledgements
1 Introduction: Anthropological aims, ethnological means
Part I Approaching ICH after post-cultural Anthropology
2 Heritage denialism: Anthropology and critical heritage studies against ICH safeguarding
3 Post-cultural anthropology: The source of contemporary heritage denialism
Part II Ethnologists as expert-bureaucrats: Lessons from the Western Balkans
4 Beyond anthropology versus ethnology in former Yugoslavia
5 Fieldwork: Method and context
6 The ethnic versus territorial attribution of minority, contested, and shared intangible heritage
7 Professional expertise versus the politicization of knowledge in ICH arena
8 Heritage disciplines within ICH reconciliation and development framework in the Western Balkans
Part III Ne nuntium necare
Conclusion: Putting anthropology back to heritage
Name Index
Subject Index

About the author

Miloš Milenkovi¿ is Professor at the Department of Ethnology and Anthropology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade.

Product details

• Authors: Miloš Milenković
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 26.12.2025
• EAN: 9781032801551
• ISBN: 978-1-032-80155-1
• No. of pages: 234
• Series: Southeast European Studies
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; Sociology, Eastern Europe, POLITICAL SCIENCE / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Civics & Citizenship, Nationalism, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, Social & political philosophy, social and political philosophy, Political structures: democracy, Social and cultural anthropology, EU (European Union), Museology & heritage studies, Museology and heritage studies, EU & European institutions, Research methods: general, Political structures / systems: democracy, Research methods / methodology, International institutions / intergovernmental organizations, Nationalism and nationalist ideologies and movements