Integrating Debates on Intangible Cultural Heritage, Environment, Identity, and Populism

Abstract The editors of this highly anticipated thematic issue have called for a more integrated approach to the concurrent development of climate debates and discourse on intangible cultural heritage. Inspired by the relevant and intriguing articles featured in this issue, I discuss how environmentalism serves as a platform where the appropriations of heritage by illiberal populist movements are increasingly evident and serious. The aim is to place this issue within the broader scholarly landscape to show that its importance not only extends to applied anthropology and engaged critical heritage scholarship but also serves as fertile ground for advancing anthropological theories and methodology grappling with stakeholder exclusion. It holds promise for understanding, explaining, predicting, or even preventing the populist hijacking of collective identities worldwide through the heritage-environment nexus.