Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the process of “heritagization” – whereby places, practices and objects become categorized as heritage – as it plays out at the intersection of law and religion in the European domain.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the process of “heritagization” – whereby places, practices and objects become categorized as heritage – as it plays out at the intersection of law and religion in the European domain. The paper examines which forms of religion become subject to heritagization, and therefore eligible for legal support, and which forms fall outside the scope of such protection. The paper critically interrogates the preference for material remains, the built environment and canonized religious expressions within the dominant heritage discourses at different levels of governance. Comparing the international, European and Nordic legal framework and case law relating to cultural heritage, the paper discusses the future of religious heritage legislation and the capacity of legal regulation and jurisprudence to accommodate other, less canonized and less “recognizable” forms of religious life.