Cultural heritage and globalisation: Tale of an UNESCO World Heritage Site

This paper examines the influence of globalization on cultural heritage, focusing on the role of UNESCO as the primary initiator and creator of international agreements on the protection of cultural heritage. On one hand, UNESCO is a defender of cultural heritage from globalization, on the other, it is a strong global player who determines and enforces individual policies and practices in the field of the protection of cultural heritage all over the world. The first part of this paper examines selected opinions of experts on the issue of globalization and cultural heritage. The second part is a case study presenting the results of empirical research conducted in Vlkolinec, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993, which aimed to analyze the effect the inclusion of the village in the World Heritage List had on the everyday lives of its inhabitants and the village itself.