Debating structural violence in European heritage diplomacy

ABSTRACT The article focuses on difficult heritage associated with three forms of structural violence in European history – the Communist and Nazi regimes and the former European colonies. We scrutinize how these three sources of difficult heritage are used in heritage diplomacy in the EU’s flagship heritage action, the European Heritage Label (EHL). On the one hand we analyse ‘diplomacy’ as principles and practices aimed at creating and maintaining peaceful and working relationships between actors both within and beyond the EU. On the other hand, we build on the related adjective ‘diplomatic’ as a tactful, delicate, and sensitive way of maintaining human relations. Our empirical data consists of interviews conducted at three EHL sites (Historic Gdańsk Shipyard (Poland), Camp Westerbork (the Netherlands) and Sagres Promontory (Portugal). We argue that unlike in the heritage of Communist and Nazi regimes, the potential for societal heritage diplomacy remains largely unrealized for colonial regimes.