Abstract
This chapter focuses on the way that the ECOC program was negotiated at the local level in Sibiu/Hermannstadt/Nagyszeben in 2007. Following the approaches of urban anthropology, the city itself stands at the center of attention, highlighting material changes in the urban space, the discourse on cultural heritage, and the roles of the different institutions involved in the context of the “City of Culture – City of Cultures”, the slogan of the event. The different ways of interpreting heritage leads to contrary appreciations. By looking at the various understandings of authenticity, the clash between individual rights and collective conceptions can be exemplified. Particular attention is given to the strategies of “self-culturalization” that characterize the process of becoming a European Capital of Culture. I will also demonstrate that economic, political, and administrative questions were discussed through the lens of culture and under European auspices. In this context, the EU’s way of governing Europe becomes obvious and the strategies of a cultural governance are stressed.
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