Kulturarv som begrepp och realitet
En fråga om val, värde och politik i den offentliga sektorn
This paper examines the concept of heritage and which factors that determines how we evaluate and select what should be considered cultural heritage. This has been examined using a qualitative study involving interviews with seven people working within different parts of the cultural heritage sector. The purpose was to get a picture of what the public sector?s cultural heritage consists of and why so. The research question was: What gives the status of cultural heritage? This was examined by looking at further questions: What defines the concept of cultural heritage? Who decides what should be considered cultural heritage? What is significant when discussing cultural heritage? One conclusion is that the concept itself is experienced as diffuse but that the meaning can be summarized as the traces we leave behind to be preserved by future generations. The question of who decides what should be considered cultural heritage is determined by a number of factors; partly it is up to the laws and councils that control parts of the work done by the cultural heritage sector, partly it is determined by the financial factors and partly it is the decisions and values of the individual person.