The master's thesis addresses the issue of preserving vernacular architecture in the Kozjansko region. The main focus of the research is on the nature of the dialogue between the institutional protectors of immovable cultural heritage - the conservators from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Regional Unit Celje, and the owners of vernacular architecture properties, specifically homesteads under heritage protection. Considering the perspectives of both stakeholders, the thesis illustrates the various meanings attributed to heritage by either the conservation profession or the broader local community in the Kozjansko area. Drawing from the fields of conservation, contemporary heritage studies, heritage protection legislation, and economic and legal history, the thesis aims to explain that different valuations of heritage are largely the product of the historical reproduction of social relations and given material circumstances. This challenges the very concept of heritage as understood by the professional conservation discourse and its self-referential nature, reinforced in legal protection.
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