Cultural heritage protection: legitimacy, property, and functionalism

1998 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
MM Müller
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
International Community ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Cultural Object ◽  
A Value ◽  
Heritage Protection

This article argues that the question of whether the nation-state or the international community is the legitimate guardian of cultural property can only be answered with reference to what we expect measures of protection of our cultural heritage to accomplish. The very concept of 'protection' is at stake, and two different schools (object-centrism versus functionalism) are to be distinguished. Whereas object centrism focuses on the cultural object and its protection as a value in its own right, functionalism argues that the cultural heritage cannot even be identified as such without reference to society and its meaning for societal processes of acculturation and socialization. This article endorses functionalism and develops a perspective that includes identity and cross-cultural communication as the most important functions of all cultural heritage. These two criteria should guide our thinking about the legitimate guardian of cultural heritage in general.

Part V Regional Approaches, Ch.34 Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shyllon Folarin
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Protection System ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Colonial Power ◽  
Intangible Heritage ◽  
Heritage Protection ◽  
Sub Saharan

This chapter describes cultural heritage law and management in Africa. Whether in the field of tangible and intangible heritage or the domain of movable and immovable cultural heritage, sub-Saharan Africa legislation and administration of cultural property have been blighted by the colonial past. Independence has not always been used as opportunity for a breaking off or breaking forth with the cultural heritage protection system installed by the former colonial power. It appears that the formulation and elaboration of cultural heritage laws are often designed on European concepts of the protection of cultural property. The laws are, therefore, not often adapted to the present African realities. This is a legacy of the colonial past. The chapter then considers the AFRICA 2009 programme, which has helped in many ways to enhance in manifold ways the conservation of immovable cultural heritage in sub-Saharan Africa through a sustainable development process.

A four-tier approach to the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict

Antiquity ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (335) ◽  
pp. 166-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter G. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Historic Buildings ◽  
The Past ◽  
A Value

This vitally important article sets out the obstacles and opportunities for the protection of archaeological sites and historic buildings in zones of armed conflict. Readers will not need to be told that modern munitions are devastating and sometimes wayward, nor that cultural heritage once destroyed cannot simply be rebuilt. The author makes a vivid case for the role of respect for the past in mitigating hostility and so winning the peace as well as aiding the victory, and guides us through the forest of players. Agencies so numerous, so obscure and so often ineffective might prompt the response ‘a plague on all your acronyms’. All the more important, then, that the author and his associates continue their campaign and are supported by everyone who believes that cultural property has a value that lies beyond sectional interests.

Territoriality and State Succession in Cultural Heritage

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-396
Author(s):  
Andrzej Jakubowski
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Nation State ◽  
World War ◽  
Cultural Assets ◽  
State Succession ◽  
Principle Of Territoriality

Abstract:The international legal discourse on the topic of state succession in cultural property has long been dominated by the concept of territoriality—the territorial provenance (origin) of cultural assets. This traditional reasoning was essentially rooted in the idea of the European nation-state. In the last 50 years, the principle of territoriality has also become accommodated within the framework of the preservation of cultural heritage. Yet such territorial and protective approaches do not take into account the value of cultural heritage for society, that is, groups and individuals that have created or maintained a given heritage. This article attempts to explore the potential clash between the principles of territoriality and human rights, with respect to state succession in cultural heritage matters. In this context, it deals with some recent ongoing interstate negotiations on the allocation of and access to cultural property with respect to post–World War II developments in state succession among Poland, Germany, and Ukraine.

The fundamental aims of cultural property law

1998 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 376-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
FG Fechner
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
International Law ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Property Law ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Cultural Objects ◽  
Cultural Object ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Conventions

The law of cultural property is primarily based on the interests of the states concerned. If a cultural object is of high monetary or identificatory value, states will contest the ownership, and many of these cases are resolved by compromise. If a cultural object is of less monetary or identificatory value, states often neglect its preservation. Yet the law for protection of cultural property should not only be a method for the arbitration of national interests but should also take into account the interests of humankind in general, including preservation of the object in its original context, public accessibility, and the scientific, historic and aesthetic interests that can be associated with an object. While some states are unable to protect their cultural heritage, especially in times of war, public international law does not prevent a state from destroying its cultural heritage. Cultural heritage law is developing rapidly, and national laws and international conventions are in the process of creation. At this time, the author posits, it is therefore necessary to consider the reasons for the protection of cultural objects.

scholarly journals International legal foundations of responsibility for international crimes against cultural heritage in conditions of armed conflicts

Legal Ukraine ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 67-72
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Bazov
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Community ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
The Hague

The article is devoted to the analysis of issues of international legal provision of responsibility for international crimes in the field of protection of cultural values. The main international legal acts and case law in this area are analyzed. Proposals for improving international and domestic legal acts are provided. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal of a free human person free from fear and need can only be realized if conditions are created in which everyone can enjoy their economic, social, cultural and political rights. Understanding the systemic nature of these rights implies the creation of appropriate conditions for their implementation at both national and international levels, including in the field of judicial protection. As the realization of economic, social, political and cultural rights is complex, systemic, the issues of preservation and protection of cultural values have recently become especially important, as it applies not only to the state in which they are located, but also to all peoples of the world. Thus, the preservation and protection of cultural heritage sites, especially in armed conflicts, is a matter not only of an individual state, but of the entire international community. As you know, issues of protection of cultural values are constantly in the field of view of the international community. In particular, these issues were reflected in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, especially in the Hague Regulations of 1907. The most important international legal act on the preservation and treatment of cultural heritage sites in armed conflict is the Hague Convention of 14 May 1954 on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Additional Protocols of 1954 and 1999, respectively, which is perceived as a universally recognized universal set of norms in the field of protection of cultural values. Key words: international criminal court, cultural values, cultural heritage, international crimes.

Sustainability of Cultural Heritage in Inland Territories

2022 ◽  
pp. 223-240
Author(s):  
Milica Maksić Mulalić
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
The Public ◽  
Heritage Protection

This chapter researches the possibilities for the sustainability of cultural heritage in inland territories, focusing on the case study of two archaeological sites in Serbia. Two plans, the plan for the archaeological site of Gamzigrad-Romuliana and the plan for the archaeological site of Caričin grad (Justiniana Prima), were analyzed from the aspect of sustainable development. These plans were prepared in compliance with the principles of preservation, protection, revitalization, and use of immovable cultural property for the purposes of science, education, presentation to the public and tourism. The conflicts between cultural heritage protection and development of tourism were analyzed. As a result of the analysis, recommendations for the sustainability of cultural heritage in inland territories are given in the chapter.

The Role of Photography in the Protection, Identification, and Recovery of Cultural Heritage

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor Mattern
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
International Community ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
News Reports ◽  
Online Databases

AbstractThis article seeks to contribute to the study surrounding documentation and the illicit trade in cultural property by examining the uses of photography by the international community. Popular and academic literature, news reports, and online databases reveal three primary and interconnected relationships that exist between photography and the trade of cultural heritage. This article presents photography as, first, an aid for the protection and identification of cultural heritage and, second, as a form of evidence to support an ownership claim by a country calling for repatriation.

scholarly journals Lessons Learned on Cultural Heritage Protection in Conflict and Protracted Crisis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Rapid Review ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Heritage Culture ◽  
International Monitoring ◽  
Heritage Protection

This rapid review examines evidence on the lessons learned from initiatives aimed at embedding better understanding of cultural heritage protection within international monitoring, reporting and response efforts in conflict and protracted crisis. The report uses the terms cultural property and cultural heritage interchangeably. Since the signing of the Hague Treaty in 1954, there has bee a shift from 'cultural property' to 'cultural heritage'. Culture is seen less as 'property' and more in terms of 'ways of life'. However, in much of the literature and for the purposes of this review, cultural property and cultural heritage are used interchangeably. Tangible and intangible cultural heritage incorporates many things, from buildings of globally recognised aesthetic and historic value to places or practices important to a particular community or group. Heritage protection can be supported through a number of frameworks international humanitarian law, human rights law, and peacebuilding, in addition to being supported through networks of the cultural and heritage professions. The report briefly outlines some of the main international legal instruments and approaches involved in cultural heritage protection in section 2. Cultural heritage protection is carried out by national cultural heritage professionals, international bodies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as citizens. States and intergovernmental organisations may support cultural heritage protection, either bilaterally or by supporting international organisations. The armed forces may also include the protection of cultural heritage in some operations in line with their obligations under international law. In the third section, this report outlines broad lessons on the institutional capacity and politics underpinning cultural protection work (e.g. the strength of legal protections; institutional mandates; production and deployment of knowledge; networks of interested parties); the different approaches were taken; the efficacy of different approaches; and the interface between international and local approaches to heritage protection.

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