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HIST 101: World History to 1500 - Harding

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Disputed Holdings

Library Resources

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Selected Books

The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution

Ebook. "Few artefacts embody this history of rapacious and extractive colonialism better than the Benin Bronzes... The Brutish Museums sits at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation and the decolonisation of museums. Since its first publication, museums across the western world have begun to return their Bronzes to Nigeria, heralding a new era in the way we understand the collections of empire we once took for granted."

Contested Holdings: Museum Collections in Political, Epistemic and Artistic Processes of Return

Ebook. "Going beyond strictly legal and property-oriented aspects of the restitution debate, restitution is considered as part of a larger set of processes of return that affect museums and collections, as well as notions of heritage and object status. Covering a range of case studies and a global geography, the authors aim to historicize and bring depth to contemporary debates in relation to both the return of material culture and human remains."

Contesting Human Remains in Museum Collections: The Crisis of Cultural Authority

Ebook. "Since the late 1970s human remains in museum collections have been subject to claims and controversies, such as demands for repatriation by indigenous groups who suffered under colonization. These requests have been strongly contested by scientists who research the material and consider it unique evidence. This book charts the influences at play on the contestation over human remains and examines the construction of this problem from a cultural perspective."

Cultural Diplomacy and the Heritage of Empire: Negotiating Post-Colonial Returns

Ebook. "Scott asserts that the deeper meaning of post-colonial cultural property disputes in European history has more to do with how officials of former colonial powers negotiated decolonization, while also creating contemporary understandings of their nations' pasts. As a whole, the book expands the field of cultural restitution studies and offers a more nuanced understanding of the connections drawn between postcolonial national identity making and the extension of cultural diplomacy."

Cultural Objects and Reparative Justice: A Legal and Historical Analysis

Ebook. "Provides a comprehensive legal and historical analysis surrounding a highly debated current question: Where should cultural objects that were removed without consent be located? This book follows an innovative, interdisciplinary approach based in law, history, art history, anthropology, and archaeology and proposes a paradigm for reparations."

Cultural Property and Contested Ownership: The Trafficking of Artefacts and the Quest for Restitution

Ebook. "Cultural artefacts, such as those kept and trafficked between art dealers, private collectors and museums, have become increasingly localized in a 'Bermuda triangle' of colonialism, looting and the black market, with their re-emergence resulting in disputes of ownership and claims for return. This interdisciplinary volume provides the first book-length investigation of the changing behaviours resulting from the effect of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property."

Doing Diversity in Museums and Heritage: A Berlin Ethnography

Ebook. "This major multi-researcher ethnography of museums and heritage in Berlin provides new insight into how diversity is understood and put into action in museums and heritage. Exploring new initiatives and approaches, the book shows how these work - or do not - in practice."

Keeping Their Marbles: How the Treasures of the Past Ended up in Museums ... and Why They Should Stay There

Ebook and print book. "Tells the intriguing and sometimes bloody story of how the West came to acquire these treasures over the centuries. She controversially argues that they should remain where they are - in the museums of the West - and should not now be returned to the lands from which they came."

Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes

Ebook. "The 'Benin Bronzes' are now amongst the most admired and valuable artworks in the world. But seeing them in the British Museum today is, in the words of one Benin City artist, like 'visiting relatives behind bars'. In a time of huge controversy about the legacy of empire, racial justice and the future of museums, what does the future hold for the Bronzes?"

Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World

Print book. "For the past two centuries, the West has been plundering the treasures of the ancient world to fill its great museums, but in recent years, the countries where ancient civilizations originated have begun to push back, taking museums to court, prosecuting curators, and threatening to force the return of these priceless objects. Where do these treasures rightly belong?"

The Parthenon Marbles Dispute: Heritage, Law, Politics

Ebook. "This book offers a fresh take on the history of those famous pieces of ancient sculpture removed from the Acropolis in Athens by Lord Elgin's men in the early 19th century... Herman provides a balanced, thorough and critical account of the history of the Marbles, while considering the legalities of their initial removal and the ethics of their retention by the British Museum."

Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle over Our Ancient Heritage

Ebook. "Cuno argues that nationalistic retention and reclamation policies impede common access to this common heritage and encourage a dubious and dangerous politicization of antiquities--and of culture itself. Antiquities need to be protected from looting but also from nationalistic identity politics."

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