The study presents an investigation of a regionalauthorized heritage discourse, represented by theCounty Administrative Board on signs set up at ancientmonuments and sites in the province of Skånein southern Sweden. The starting point is a criticalanalysis of layout, texts and illustrations to ascertainthe narratives conveyed by the signs. The results showthat slightly less than half of the studied signs workwell according to the criteria set up for the study. Theresult also demonstrates that more than half of thestudied signs do not work well according to these criteria.Those that work well give detailed informationabout the ancient monument or site. The signs that donot work well give inadequate information and riskexcluding a majority of the people who read them.The latter signs confirm what so many other discourseanalyses have shown, that the authorized heritage discourseto a large extent still privileges the perspectivesof a white, middle-class male. The former signs, thatis, those that are judged to work well in terms of thecriteria applied in this study, show that the authorizedheritage discourse does not only offer something thatprivileges the perspectives of that white, middle classmale, but also has the ability to offer narratives withother perspectives.

Denna uppsats syftar till att närmare undersöka hur industrihistoriska miljöer prioriteras och tas tillvara vid stadsomvandlingsprojekt, samt vilka utmaningar det kan medföra i praktiken. Studien grundar sig i en fallstudie av kvarteret Ångkvarn i Uppsala, vilket är ett tidigare industriområde som ska omvandlas till en stadsdel av blandstadskaraktär. Uppsatsens syfte och frågeställningar besvaras genom intervjuer med inblandade aktörer i projektet och analys av kommunala plandokument. Resultatet visar att det industriella arvet i kvarteret Ångkvarn anses viktigt enligt samtliga aktörer, dels för stadsdelen Kungsängens historiska karaktär, men även för Uppsala som stad där det tidigare industriområdet lyfts som en betydelsefull del av stadens historia. Av studien framgår att totalt fyra av områdets byggnader beslutats att bevaras, vilka är tegelbyggnaderna belägna närmast ån i form av tegelsilon med tillhörande skeppselevator, industrikvarnen och jästfabriken. Dessa beslut grundar sig i byggnadernas kulturhistoriska värden, men även estetiska och monumentala aspekter har visat sig vara betydande faktorer för de bevarandebeslut som tagits. Utmaningar som kan uppkomma med att bevara ett områdes kulturella arv samtidigt som det ska utvecklas för nya ändamål handlar enligt aktörerna till största del om tekniska utmaningar, men även ekonomiska utmaningar har identifierats i studien.

Glimmingehus, i sydöstra Skåne, är en del av det skånska kulturarvet och ett betydande besöksmål. Som en del av det statligt förvaltade kulturarvet finns ett ansvar att historiebruket är inkluderande och främjar delaktighet. Uppsatsen undersöker vilken del av historien som lyfts fram på Glimmingehus, utifrån följande frågeställningar: Vilka och vems narrativ tillvaratas och förmedlas till den allmänhet som besöker Glimmingehus? och Vilka andra narrativ med anknytning till Glimmingehus skulle kunna föras fram? Agnidakis et al. (2018) utgår från statens förvaltning av vårt gemensamma kulturarv i sin metodutveckling. Metoden undersöker de narrativ som förmedlas på en plats och i vilken utsträckning de är bundna till normer som rör kultur, särskilda tider, klass eller kön. Resultatet visar på adeln som den mest återgivna sociala kategorin på Glimmingehus. Jens Holgersen Ulfstand och Margareta Arvidsdotter Trolle är genomgående de mest framträdande personerna och främst medeltid, men även andra perioder såsom 1600-tal, åskådliggörs. Rumsligt fokus ligger till största delen på borgens funktion som försvarsverk och bostad. Därtill tillkommer flera andra mindre framträdande narrativ, med den största variationen i utställningen Borgfolk. Flera av de historiska personer som presenteras är kvinnor. Utmaningen tycks inte ligga i att hitta inflytelserika kvinnor ur historien att berätta om, utan i att hitta och belysa de personer som möjliggjorde den svenska och danska högadelns livsvillkor, på Glimmingehus såväl som på andra kulturhistoriskt viktiga platser i Skåne. Med landskapet som arbetsplats har landskapsvetaren möjlighet att vara delaktig i en normkritisk och normkreativ kulturmiljövård och bidra till ett inkluderande och varierat kulturlandskap.

This paper aims to increase knowledge about how discourse is represented in the evaluation and management of tangible cultural heritage by a comparative analysis of the management of two of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites located in Sweden. By examining the motivations for inscription and the sites’ management plans through critical discourse analysis, this study approaches questions regarding how heritage is constructed and managed. Through a comparison of the case studies and a subsequent discussion of their relation to Laurajane Smith’s concept of Authorized Heritage Discourse, this paper highlights some issues that the cultural heritage sector is facing today regarding social and political dimensions of cultural heritage.

The World Heritage Project ”Finnskogen – vägen till världsarv” was initiated in 2018 with the aim of inscribing the Forest Finnish heritage in northern Värmland on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. This essay examines how the cultural values of Finnskogen are portrayed and communicated by the project owners through visual semiotic analysis. The material consists of the film ‘Finnskogen – vägen till världsarv” and the project’s website finnskogen.se, with communication being related to, among others, the governing documents of the World Heritage Committee. The theoretical approach of the essay is based on Laurajane Smith’s Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD) and Iain Robertson’s Heritage from Below (HFB). Through these two approaches, we explore how cultural heritage is produced from above, as well as a genuine way of living and transmitting lived cultural heritage. The study’s findings reveal that Finnskogen’s universal, unique, living, and antiquarian aspects are presented as positive values, aligning with several of the UN’s normative sustainability goals in Agenda 2030. Another conclusion from the study is that Finnskogen is portrayed as HFB, but ultimately subordinated to AHD.

Examensarbetet undersöker Borlänge kommuns kulturarv och analyserar detta genom authorized heritage discourse. I arbetet studeras kommunala planeringsdokument så som översiktsplan och kulturmiljöplan samt den digitala besöksguiden Visit Dalarna och Borlänges kommuns respons på utnämningen till Sveriges fulaste stad. Undersökningen visar att kulturarvet har en liten roll i kommunens planeringsdokument och att det både i dessa och i besöksnäringen primärt är äldre och mer traditionella arv som är utvalt. Detta beror troligtvis på att staden, bland annat till följd av dess unga ålder, inte värdesätter mer samtida miljöer som kulturarv och ser kulturarvet som en tillgång i regional utveckling samt att besöksnäringen väljer ut kulturarv som ska tilltala nationell och internationell turism vilket resulterar i kulturarv som resonerar mer med den kollektiva identiteten Dalarna mer än den lokala säregna identiteten. / The thesis examines Borlänge municipality's cultural heritage and analyzes it through the authorized heritage discourse. By studying municipal planning documents as well as the digital visitors guide Visit Dalarna and Borlänge municipality's response to the designation as Sweden's ugliest city, the thesis shows that cultural heritage has a small role in the municipality's planning documents and that both in these and in the tourismindustry it is primarily older and more traditional heritage that is selected. This is probably due to the fact that the city does not value more contemporary environments as cultural heritage and that the city do not see cultural heritage as an asset in regional development. The tourism industry selects cultural heritage that should appeal to national and international tourism, which results in cultural heritage that resonates more with the collective identity Dalarna more than the local identity.

This essay studies the Swedish museum debate during 2016–2017, regarding the display of history. The sources analysed here that represent the debate are the Swedish Govenment’s Proposition on Cultural Heritage Politics (Regeringens proposition 2016/17:116), the Museum Investigation (Ny Museipolitik 2015) and articles from Swedish daily newspapers. The essay uses Laurajane Smith’s work (Uses of Heritage 2006) on Authorized and Subaltern Heritage Discourses, as well as methods for argument analysis and construction of the Heritage node. The essay concludes that the Government’s Proposition is more closely tied to a Subaltern Heritage Discourse, while the Investigation lies somewhere in between both discourses, and the newspaper articles adhere to an Authorized Heritage Discourse. The Proposition construct the Heritage node in an open, multiculturalistic way that also focus on relevancy for today’s society and stresses the importance of the experience of the visit. The Investigation focus on the special role of the museum professionals, and also believes in a balance between traditional knowledge-based exhibitions and experience-based ones. The authors of the articles see the heritage as under threat from Government Politics, where knowledge and tradition is being replaced by norm criticism and multiculturalism.

Introduction: This is a two years master's thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies. The purpose of this thesis was to critically examine discourses of sustainable cultural tourism, and how different sustainability dimensions and ideals can coexist and be applied in practice. The starting point was a case study of the World Heritage Site “The Hanseatic town of Visby”, where the relationship between the conservation and the availability of the world heritage site was investigated. The research questions that were formulated were which actors and agendas that cooperate in the production of sustainable heritage tourism, how global and national guidelines for sustainable cultural tourism correspond to the local development work of the Visby world heritage city, which are the prominent discourses in the documents on sustainable heritage tourism in the world heritage city of Visby and how they are described as well as whether there is opposition between the conservation and the availability of cultural heritage, and what potential solutions to such opposition can look like. Theory: Prior to the study, previous research on sustainability, sustainable heritage tourism and the world heritage site Visby has been studied and used as a springboard for the thesis research questions. The theoretical perspectives that were used in the analysis consisted of theories regarding sustainable tourism, posthumanism, system theory and authorized heritage discourse, AHD. Method: The method chosen for the study was Laclau & Mouffes discourse analysis. This enabled a closer examination of the development plans and documents on sustainable heritage tourism produced by local, national and global actors. This was complemented with short interviews with thirteen stakeholders. Results and analysis: The result and analysis showed that several different actors and agendas are involved in the production of sustainable heritage tourism. However, there are difficulties in letting all actors get their voices heard and being part of the decision-making process, such as the local population, which are often disregarded. In addition, interaction between different actors could get better with more clearly defined areas of responsibility. The result also showed that, in particular, the concepts of sustainability and sustainable develop-ment were used in the documents about the development of the world heritage city of Visby, but the concept of sustainable heritage tourism was rarely used. The Swedish National Heritage Board and the region of Gotland are currently working on developing sustainable tourism strategies. At present, however, there is unclear correspondence between global guidelines and local application, where it is up to the municipalities to interpret and apply Unesco’s guidelines themselves, which may be difficult since the guidelines are quite general and vague. The study also showed that there are three clear discourses in the documents about sustainable heritage tourism. Under the overall discourse of sustainable tourism in Visby there is an ecological discourse, an economic discourse and a social discourse. In all documents, sustainable tourism is described as consisting of three discourses, but there is great freedom of interpretation in the use of the term. The discourses are also prioritized and described differently in different documents. Conclusion: The study's conclusion is that there are both oppositions and solutions. Both documents and interviews show that there are oppositions between ecological, economic and social interests in a place like the world heritage site in Visby. At the same time, there are also various suggestions for how the different dimensions can coexist and the actors were generally optimistic. Basically, it is about finding a balance between conservation and accessibility, taking into account both contemporary and future interests. Suggested solutions are to work further with information and knowledge, improve interaction between different actors, work with conservation-based development, productize heritage, better interaction with the local society, develop creative industries in historical buildings, and include visitors in the conservation work. However, most voices agree that the issue is difficult and complex and requires more knowledge and research.

At least eight soapstone carvings of birds furnished a shrine, Great Zimbabwe, in the 19th century. This large stonewalled settlement, once a political and urban centre, had been much reduced for four centuries, although the shrine continued to operate as local traditions dictated. The Zimbabwe Birds were handed down from a past that has only been partially illuminated by archaeological inquiry and ethnography, as has the site as such. This thesis publishes the first detailed catalogue of the Birds and attempts to reconstruct their provenance at the site based on the earliest written accounts. A modern history of the Birds unfolds when the European settlers removed them from the site in dubious transactions, claiming them as rewards of imperial conquest. As the most treasured objects from Great Zimbabwe, the fate of the Birds has been intertwined with that of the site in a matrix of contested meanings and ownership. This thesis explores how the meanings of cultural objects have a tendency to shift and to be ephemeral, demonstrating the ability of those in power to appropriate and determine such meanings. In turn, this has a bearing on ownership claims, and gives rise to an “authorized heritage discourse” syndrome.   The forced migrations of the Zimbabwe Birds within the African continent and to Europe and their subsequent return to their homeland decades later are characterised by melodramatic episodes of manoeuvring by traders, politicians and theologians, and of the return of stolen property cloaked as an amicable barter deal, or a return extolled as an act of generosity. International doctrines that urge the return of cultural property are influenced by Western hegemonic ideologies. Natural justice is perverted, as stolen property acquires a (superior) significance in its new context, which merits the extinction of the original provenance. This leaves “generosity” and goodwill as the promises of the future, holding the fate of one Zimbabwe Bird still kept in exile in South Africa.

The aim of this study is to explore heritage processes within contemporary urban planning in Sweden, which is done through a single-case study. The point of departure for the study is the management of Havrekvarnen, an early modernist industrial building within an urban development area of Nacka, Sweden. Through parallel decisions by the County Administrative Board and the local Municipality in 2016, the building was firstly, listed with the strongest legal, cultural, and historical protection available, and secondly, the municipal urban regulations were changed so that the landowner was given permission to pursuit a reconstruction of the building, replicating its original appearance. As such the case constitutes a hitherto unique example of a listed future reconstruction in Sweden. The study examines how the process took place, focusing on actors and critical junctures involved in the execution and how the description of the building's heritage-values changed. The study uses a composite theoretical framework of authorized heritage discourse and actor network theory. To this an explaining-outcome process tracing is applied as method. Through a sequential process of collecting empirical data, in the form of archival records and interviews, the process was mapped through the conceptualization of a causal mechanism. The method had not previously been used in the field of art history and was chosen as such with a tentative approach. The study gives an extensive presentation of the legal and practical framework surrounding heritage processes within urban planning in Sweden, as well as puts the study within a local historical context. The results of the study show that within the observed case, a trade-off situation between authenticity and aesthetic historical values arose, caused by the poor technical condition of the building: the aesthetic values were deemed to take precedence in the assessment. The study also shows how antiquarian consultants have had a decisive influence on the process of legislative enabling of the reconstruction of Havrekvarnen. The research design’s use of process tracing to map heritage processes is thus deemed useful for future enquiries within the field of art history and heritage studies.