Michael Dylan Foster is Associate Professor of Folklore and East Asian Studies at Indiana University. He is author of Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yokai (2009), The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore (2015), and numerous articles on Japanese folklore, literature, and media.

Lisa Gilman is Associate Professor of Folklore and English at the University of Oregon. She researches dance, gender, and politics in Malawi and has published on the use of women¿s dancing in Malawi¿s political sphere. She has also done extensive research with US veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

1 Introduction
Michael Dylan Foster
[Section: Local Studies]
2 Voices on the Ground: Kutiyattam, UNESCO, and the Heritage of Humanity
Leah Lowthorp
3 The Economic Imperative of UNESCO Recognition: A South Korean Shamanic Ritual
Kyoim Yun
4 Demonic or Cultural Treasure? Local Perspectives on Vimbuza, ICH, and UNESCO in Malawi
Lisa Gilman
5 Imagined UNESCOs: Interpreting ICH on a Japanese Island
Michael Dylan Foster
6 Macedonia, UNESCO, and Intangible Cultural Heritage: The Challenging Fate of Teshkoto
Carol Silverman
7 Shifting Actors and Power Relations: Contentious Local Responses to the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Contemporary China
Ziying You
[Section: Critical Discussion]
8 Understanding UNESCO: The Importance of Understanding the Organization in Evaluations of Its ICH Programs
Anthony Seeger
9 Learning to Live with ICH: Diagnosis and Treatment
Valdimar Tr. Hafstein
10 Cultural Forms, Policy Objects, Local Agendas
Dorothy Noyes

edited by Michael Dylan Foster, Lisa Gilman