The Global Competition of the Intangible. UNESCO as a Producer of Heritage Brands

ABSTRACT In 2003, UNESCO took a turn in its heritage policies with the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. From that point on, intangible assets were equated in quality and character with the cultural and natural heritage that had been defined as world heritage three decades earlier. The beginning of this recognition coincided with the expansion of the creative economy and the development of the new spirit of capitalism. In this context, this paper aims to analyze how the market opened up to the intangible by examining the Fallas Festivity (Spain), included in the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016. For this purpose, we present the different levels of competition that come into play; explore how a variety of different meanings are shaped when a UNESCO asset is activated by the political sphere and the media; and we examine the bureaucratic process involved in achieving a UNESCO listing. The case considered here allows us to observe the existence of a global competition for entering the heritage market circuit, which has become increasingly demanding and linked to the demands of the tourism industry, in which the UNESCO brand plays a key role. The global struggle for the UNESCO seal and heritage brand management has placed our collective heritage in a prominent position in political agendas.