International Law, Museums and the Return of Cultural Objects

This important book explores the role played by museums and national governments in the return of cultural objects.

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak (Author)

9780521732406, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 7 August 2008

384 pages, 32 b/w illus.
24.7 x 17.3 x 2.3 cm, 0.78 kg

'Vrdoljak has effectively deployed the results of her extensive research and analysis to recontextualize the tangible legacy of indigenous peoples as something more profound than objects of curiosity, admiration and scientific commentary. … What broadens her project impressively for the general reader is her attention to the critical relationship between the restitution of cultural heritage and general topics of international law – in particular, state succession, state responsibility, human rights and humanitarian law. … Vrdoljak's empirically based insights in International Law, Museums and the Return of Cultural Objects make an invaluable contribution to the growing literature on the significant role of indigenous cultural heritage in colonial and post-colonial history.' American Journal of International Law

While the question of the return of cultural objects is by no means a new one, it has become the subject of increasingly intense debate in recent years. This important book explores the removal and the return of cultural objects from occupied communities during the last two centuries and analyses the concurrent evolution of international cultural heritage law. The book focuses on the significant influence exerted by British, U.S. and Australian governments and museums on international law and museum policy in response to restitution claims. It shows that these claims, far from heralding the long-feared dissolution of museums and their collections, provide museums with a vital, new role in the process of self-determination and cultural identity. Compelling and thought-provoking throughout, this book is essential reading for archaeologists, international lawyers and all those involved in cultural resource management.

Introduction
1. The state and national culture in the early nineteenth century
2. International law, international exhibitions in the late nineteenth century
3. Dismantling empires and post-World War I peace treaties
4. Colonised peoples and the League of Nations
5. Restitution in the mid-twentieth century
6. Genocide, human rights and colonised peoples during the Cold War
7. Decolonisation without restitution
8. Indigenous peoples and restitution as a process
9. Indigenous peoples, states and reconciliation
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International law [LB], Archaeology [HD], General & world history [HBG], Museology & heritage studies [GM]