As an outcome of the stabilization of geopolitical postcolonial balance within Unesco and of the priority of this organization (i.e. the protection of cultural diversity), the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, establishes an major shift in the understanding of heritage not only because it opens its domain to the field of living practices but also because it acknowledges a new position for social actors. The safeguarding of this heritage aims to move off from conservative protection of its form and involves a dynamic process of transmission based on active participation of the bearers of such cultural expressions. This article explores some of the problems arising in the actual implementation of this new perspective shedding light on some ambiguities of the institution of this new heritage category. The criteria of heritage selection are in fact now supposed to reflect the subjective social values that an element embodies for a group rather than the interest, established on technical and academic basis, which this element would objectively represent. The actual achievement of this relativist shift is nonetheless hindered by the role of the States, which hold a key position in heritage authorization, and by the structure of institutional systems, often moulded on a purely technical and scientific approach, distant from the spirit of the Convention.