An ethnography of cultural bureaucracy in the federalist context (2009-2014)
This research aimed to study the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO 2003) in Switzerland, ratified by the Swiss Confederation in 2008.
The project identifies the mechanisms for the implementation of the first inventory of living traditions – an oxymoron chosen by the authorities in charge of the intangible cultural heritage dossier – on Swiss territory. Based on a multi-scalar (local, regional and federal) ethnographic survey complemented by an in-depth knowledge of relevant documents and policy decisions, the research questions how living culture is defined, selected, conceived, promoted and experienced within the federal administration as well as in the reality of the cantonal executives and on the ground by the social actors who pass it on to future generations.
Adopting a relatively broad comparative approach, this project not only shed light on the specificities of cultural policy in Switzerland from a new angle – intangible cultural heritage – but also questioned in a more global way the effects of the UNESCO Conventions on cultural policies throughout the world.
![La fondue au studio pour une nouvelle promotion, 1933 © Glasson/Musee gruerien, Bulle, 1933](https://www.epfl.ch/schools/cdh/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/fondue_b01-1.jpg)
![](https://www.epfl.ch/schools/cdh/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/schwingen_b15_modifie-1-1.jpg)
![Fête fédérale de musique 2011, Saint-Gall : concert dans la rue © swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler](https://www.epfl.ch/schools/cdh/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/blasmusik_b01_modifie-1-1.jpg)
![Le club de yodleurs « Bachji » à la Fête fédérale de yodel (Brig-Glis, 23.6.2017) © swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler](https://www.epfl.ch/schools/cdh/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/jodel01-1-1024x769.jpg)
![Les cors des Alpes attendent de faire leur entrée © Eidgenössischer Jodlerverband](https://www.epfl.ch/schools/cdh/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/alphorn_b02_m-1.jpg)
![Jusqu’en 1970, les cors des Alpes étaient fabriqués avec des sapins courbés ; actuellement, on utilise des pièces de bois assemblées © Peter Studer](https://www.epfl.ch/schools/cdh/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/alphorn_b10_m-1.jpg)
![« Forêt de cors des Alpes » à Mürren © Wolfgang Häuptli, 2011](https://www.epfl.ch/schools/cdh/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/alphorn_b11_m-1.jpg)
![Fête de jodel de Suisse centrale 2012 à Lachen SZ © Annalies Studer/Zeitschrift Schwingen Hornussen Jodeln](https://www.epfl.ch/schools/cdh/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/alphorn_b16_m-1.jpg)
![Un trait typique du Tir fédéral en campagne : un habitué encadre la relève © SIS (Marcel Brumann)](https://www.epfl.ch/schools/cdh/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/feldschiessen_b01-1.jpg)
![Des sachets de pois et de haricots destinés à la bibliothèque des se-mences (2009) © ProSpecieRara 2009](https://www.epfl.ch/schools/cdh/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/saatguterhaltung01-1-1024x768.jpg)
Funding:
Swiss National Science Foundation (as part of the Sinergia Projects “Intangible Cultural Heritage: the Midas Touch?” followed by “Whispered Words”, directed by Prof. Ellen Hertz from the University of Neuchâtel)
Outputs of the sinergia project (SNSF):
>Intangible Cultural Heritage: The Midas Touch?
>Intangible Cultural Heritage in Switzerland: Whispered Words
Recent publications:
Hertz, Ellen, Graezer Bideau Florence, Leimgruber Walter et Munz Hervé. (2018). Politiques de la tradition : Le patrimoine culturel immatériel. EPF Lausanne, PPUR, collection Le savoir suisse.
Graezer Bideau, Florence. (2020). “Le rôle des experts dans la création de l’inventaire du patrimoine culturel immatériel”, in Julia Csergo, Christian Hottin et Pierre Schmit (dir.). Le patrimoine culturel immatériel au seuil des sciences sociales. Actes du colloque de Cerisy-la-Salle, septembre 2012. Paris, Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (Ethnologie de la France et des mondes contemporains), pp. 191-202.
Graezer Bideau, Florence et Ellen Herzt. (2017). “Regard sur les politiques du PCI en Suisses”, in Françoise Lempereur (dir.). Le patrimoine culturel immatériel, pp. 317-328. Liège, Presses universitaires de Liège.
Recent activities:
Graezer Bideau, Florence, “Les anthropologues face aux ‘traditions vivantes’: l’exemple suisse”, Colloque international Nommer/Normer : approches pluridisciplinaires du patrimoine culturel immatériel. 9-10 novembre 2020 repoussé en 2021, Institut des Sciences sociales du politique, Ministère de la Culture, INHA-INP, auditorium Colbert, Paris.
Graezer Bideau, Florence, “Vous avez dit : “traditions vivantes urbaines” en Suisse? ”, Colloque international Une approche interdisciplinaire du patrimoine culturel immatériel. 7-8 mars, 2019. Museum Fünf Kontinente, Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Deutschland.
Graezer Bideau, Florence, “Inventories without archives: the list of ‘Living Traditions in Switzerland’”, Colloque international Archiving Intangible Cultural Heritage & Performing Arts – a Symposium for Living Traditions, August 6-7, 2018, Artlab, EPFL.