UNESCOs framstilling av indigeniteter, religiøsiteter og religion - En dokumentanalyse av UNESCOs nettside av verdensarvstedet Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán

Abstract

This thesis explores how UNESCO presents indigeneities, religiosities and religion on their webpage of one of their world heritages sites, the Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán. It analyses how and in which degree indigeneities, religiosities and religion are presented, produced and contextualized on this webpage and on related UNESCO webpages. My readings of these webpages are done in the light of UNESCO as a global organization, operating in a global context. I have executed a document analysis and explored my topic heuristically. I have looked for presentations of words, phrases, pictures, videos, and other framings that relate objects or graphic artefacts to my analytical concepts. In this process, new questions have come up and directed my search in more particular ways. I have tried to stay open to the content of UNESCOs presentations, to let the material speak on its own as far as possible to my analytical concepts. This approach discloses three aspects of UNESCO’s presentations of indigeneities, religiosities and religion: that they come across (1) as representations of values, traditions, peoples and objects belonging to the local heritage site, (2) as distinctive categories of value within world heritage, which humans have a responsibility to preserve, and (3) as resources for UNESCO’s global system and world heritage categorization.

Keywords: UNESCO; world heritage; indigeneities; religiosities; religion; Mexico; Oaxaca; Monte Albán