Authorized Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage Values: Analysis of an evaluation of values assessments of churches performed 2007–2010This study, based on my evaluation of cultural historic characterizations of churches conducted for the Church of Sweden 2007–2010, analyses and discusses questions and perceptions on cultural heritage values. The model for characterizations, developed by the Swedish National Heritage Board in 2002, was followed by most performers, who generally were building conservation officers at regional museums. In the evaluation project, I found that the characterizations were performed with lacking participation from the parishes, were of uneven quality and that values based on intangible heritage were rarely noticed. The reactions that followed the recommendations of the project were mainly based on the opinions that the reports were too theoretical, that the experts would be deprived of their expert roles and that it, since the characterizations were already finalized, was too late to develop a new method. The project and the reactions are analysed using critical discourse analysis, based on the theory of Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD). I conclude that different heritage discourses were colliding and that the debate was expressing a struggle for the power to interpret and manage cultural heritage values. A final reflection is that important historical events in churches, such as the 1670s witch trial in the parish of Torsåker, risk being neglected due to the AHDs focus on material-based values.
In several documents, the Church of Sweden has expressed that participation in the Church’s cultural heritage is a common right. According to the Church of Sweden’s cultural heritage goals, “the ecclesiastical cultural heritage belongs to all”. In the Church’s report to the government 2014, this is expressed as “Everyone who lives in Sweden is entitled to the history previous generations have created” and “access to the ecclesiastical cultural heritage is a right”. The article discusses what this “right” means and on what grounds it is based. It investigates the right to participate in ecclesiastical heritage on the basis of common cultural rights, according to international conventions and, more specifically, on the basis of rights to the ecclesiastical heritage according to national cultural policies. The article states that not only demolition but also closure, privatization, or otherwise inaccessibility of common and public ecclesiastical heritage may mean that people’s rights are not fulfilled and therefore neither conventions nor legislation are followed. Finally, it also discusses the right to assess ecclesiastical heritage values and the development of methods to increase participation in this work.