ABSTRACT

Since the institution of a national intangible cultural heritage policy in 2000, the term ‘intangible cultural heritage’ has successfully entered the daily governance vocabulary in Brazil. Although the experience of successive administrations in the executive branch of the state established a consistent policy, the legislative branch has been increasingly making divergent uses of the idea of intangible cultural heritage. Members of Congress have been approving bills to declare certain practices as national intangible cultural heritage in ways disconnected from the procedures required by the policy managed by the executive branch. In analysing a few cases of intangible cultural heritage nomination associated with the livestock industry, I identify competing assumptions about the role of the state in the implementation of actions regarding intangible cultural heritage in Brazil. I argue that the contention reflects the current social polarisation effected by the recent context of populist politics in the country. Therefore, national intangible cultural heritage policies are not homogenous courses of actions implemented by unified nation-states, but rather spaces of engagement where social disputes find an opportunity to be articulated.

摘要

自 2000 年国家非物质文化遗产政策制定以来，“非物质文化遗产”一词成功地进入了巴西的日常治理词汇。尽管国家行政部门历届政府的经验确立了一贯的政策，但立法部门对非物质文化遗产的概念却越来越多样化。国会议员一直在批准法案，以与行政部门管理的政策要求的程序脱节的方式将某些做法宣布为国家非物质文化遗产。在分析几个与畜牧业相关的非物质文化遗产申报案例中，我确定了关于国家在巴西非物质文化遗产行动实施中的作用的相互竞争的假设。我认为，这一论点反映了当前受该国民粹主义政治背景影响的当前社会两极分化。因此，国家级非物质文化遗产政策不是统一的民族国家实施的同质化的行动路线，而是社会争端找到机会表达的参与空间。