ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 established the existence of the Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD). It is the task of this chapter to examine how the AHD is institutionalized and embedded within some of the primary documents and processes of heritage, management and conservation. The conventions and charters enacted by UNESCO and ICOMOS may be understood as authorizing institutions of heritage, as they define what heritage is, how and why it is significant, and how it should be managed and used. This authority comes in part from the influence these organizations have within the policy process at both national and international levels. However, it also derives from the persuasive power of the AHD, which frames the charters and conventions that influence national and international heritage conservation and preservation policies and practices. In turn, the AHD, and the assumptions, values and ideologies embedded within this discourse, is itself reinforced and perpetuated through the policy and technical processes that are driven or underlined by the various charters and conventions.
