Culture Development Gateway: "This excellent volume, edited by Peter Seitel, was published in 2001 by the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC., in cooperation with UNESCO's Division of Cultural Heritage. The book is the result of a 1999 conference at the Smithsonian and consists of essays by 36 cultural workers and other experts from around the globe, some of them leaders from traditional communities. It includes accounts of the eight regional seminars that were held to evaluate the state of traditional cultures and UNESCO's role in safeguarding them, as well as analyses of legal questions, such as intellectual-property rights, affecting traditional cultures. This book not only assesses the state of traditional cultures at the beginning of the new millennium, it also marks a watershed in the vital presence of local tradition-bearers in international meetings called to formulate and evaluate cultural policy. The entire text of the book is available online. Follow this link to the online book.
