Beyond Restitution: Exploring the Stories of Cultural Objects After Their Return

Hausler, Kristin/ Redmond-cooper, Ruth (Editor)/ Selter, Elke

ISBN 10: 1509982523 / ISBN 13: 9781509982523

Published by Hart Pub Ltd, 2025

About this Item

272 pages. 9.21x6.14x1.00 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # x-1509982523

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Beyond Restitution: Exploring the Stories of Cultural Objects After Their Return
• Publisher: Hart Pub Ltd
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1509982523
• ISBN 13: 9781509982523
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.49 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

This open access book offers a unique perspective on the return of cultural objects by considering the aftermath of the handover processes.

While calls for the repatriation of heritage have been made since the start of the decolonisation process, it is only in recent years that the debate on returning cultural objects has gained widespread prominence. This has been followed by ongoing efforts from several countries to change the legislation, adopt principles, and invest in provenance research to turn repatriation into a more proactive mechanism.

The book tells the story of cultural objects that were housed in European institutions and returned to countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. In addition to in-depth analysis of relevant laws and policies, each of the case studies integrates interviews with those who were directly involved in those return processes, as well as those who were impacted by them, including museum staff, government representatives and community members. The book presents previously unheard insights into past return processes, the manifold modalities that such processes have followed, and, at times, unexpected outcomes. By doing so, it offers possible lessons to be learnt for future returns.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

About the Authors

Kristin Hausler is the Dorset Senior Fellow and Director of the Centre for International Law at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, UK. Previously, she worked at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver on a proactive repatriation project focused on the return of Ancestral remains to Indigenous communities.

Elke Selter is Director of Programs at ALIPH, the International Alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas, Switzerland. She holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from SOAS. Elke worked for over 15 years with UNESCO.

Ruth Redmond-Cooper is Editor of the quarterly journal Art Antiquity and Law first published in 1996. She has held posts at a number of universities, including Leicester, Nottingham, Essex, Paris XI and Dokkyo and, with Professor Norman Palmer, founded the Institute of Art and Law in 1995.