Shifting the balance of power in the UNESCO World Heritage Committee: an empirical assessment

This article analyzes whether emerging nations are extending their influence across the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and, if so, how this affects decision-making processes concerning the inscription of sites on the World Heritage List. We use both quantitative and qualitative approaches to identify patterns in decision-making processes regarding inscriptions at the World Heritage Committee sessions. Our results suggest that in the last decade, a group of emerging powers including China, South Africa, Russia, and India has dominated the UNESCO World Heritage decision-making process. At the same time, our results suggest an increasing ‘politicization’ of decisions emerging from the polarization of positions concerning the role and legitimacy of Advisory Bodies’ technical recommendations. Our finding contributes to discussions of the role and contribution of the BRICS countries in challenging the existing structures of multilateral governance by presenting the example of World Heritage, UNESCO’s self-proclaimed flagship program.