Heritage protection for the 21st century

This paper assesses the recent Heritage Protection Review (HPR) process, which culminated in the publication of the Heritage White Paper " Heritage protection for the 21st century" (DCMS, 2007). It argues that although the White Paper makes laudable and useful attempts at streamlining and clarifying the management and protection process, many of its proposed changes operate at the rhetorical level only. Indeed, it does little to challenge the dominant and elitist understandings of " heritage" and attendant cultural values and meanings, and thus fails to adequately address social inclusion/exclusion issues in the cultural sector.