Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T05:58:13.895Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Politics of Culture and the Culture of Politics: Examining the Role of Politics and Diplomacy in Cultural Property Disputes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2016

Maria Shehade
Affiliation:
Institute for Sustainable Heritage, University College London, United Kingdom; Email: [email protected] (corresponding author)
Kalliopi Fouseki
Affiliation:
Institute for Sustainable Heritage, University College London, UK; Email: [email protected]

Abstract:

This article constitutes the first systematic attempt to synthesize the role of politics as an affecting dynamic during the negotiation of cultural property disputes. The article limits its scope to disputes concerning the ownership of cultural artifacts between states and museums settled through negotiation and to the subsequent claims for the return of the contested objects. The discussion focuses on four ways in which the negotiation process is affected when states act as claimants, including the discourse and argumentation used, the available means to pressure the other party to negotiate, the possible political interventions, and the international political scene and its effect on the development of the dispute. Through the examination of multiple case studies, it is argued that in such disputes, several elements related to the role of politics are at interplay affecting the evolution of the negotiation process. Finally, it is also argued that the role of politics as an affecting dynamic during the negotiation process is multi-dimensional, consisting of many different interrelated dynamics that can potentially alter the course of the process.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Akinsha, Konstantin, and Kozlov, Grigorii. 1995. Beautiful Loot: The Soviet Plunder of Europe’s Art Treasures. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Amineddoleh, Leila. 2011. “The Getty Museum’s Non-Victorious Bid to Keep the ‘Victorious Youth’ Bronze.” Art and Cultural Heritage Law Newsletter of the Art and Cultural Heritage Law Committee of the ABA Section of International Law 3, no. 1: 3032.Google Scholar
Atakuman, Çigdem. 2010. “Value of Heritage in Turkey: History and Politics of Turkey’s World Heritage Nominations.” Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 23, no. 1: 107–32.Google Scholar
Atwood, Roger. 2004. Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient World. New York: St. Martin’s Press.Google Scholar
Bandle, Anne Laure. 2012. “The Impact of Politics on the Resolution of Art Restitution Claims.” In Resolving Disputes in Cultural Property, edited by Renold, M., Chechi, A., and Bandle, A., 211–50. Zurich: Schultess.Google Scholar
Bauer, Alexander. 2008. “New Ways of Thinking about Cultural Property: A Critical Appraisal of the Antiquities Trade Debates.” Fordham International Law Journal 31, no. 3: 690724.Google Scholar
Bernhardsson, Magnus. 2006. Reclaiming a Plundered Past: Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Bitterman, Amy. 2012. “Settling Cultural Property Disputes.” Villanova Sports and Entertainment Law Journal 19, no. 1: 138.Google Scholar
Bogdanos, Mathew. 2005. Thieves of Baghdad. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.Google Scholar
Bound, Kirsten, Rachel, Briggs, John, Holden, and Jones, Samuel. 2007. Cultural Diplomacy. London: DEMOS.Google Scholar
Boylan, Patrick. 2001. “The Concept of Protection in Times of Armed Conflict: From Crusades to the New Millennium.” In Illicit Antiquities: The Theft of Culture and the Extinction of Archaeology, edited by Brodie, N. and Tubb, K., 43108. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Briggs, Aaron Kyle. 2007. “Consequences of the Met-Italy Accord for the International Restitution of Cultural Property.” Chicago Journal of International Law 7, no. 2: 623–53.Google Scholar
Burton, John, and Dukes, Frank. 1990. Conflict: Practices in Management, Settlement and Resolution. New York: St. Martin’s Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byrne-Sutton, Quentin, and Geisinger-Mariéthoz, Fabienne, eds. 1999. Resolution Methods for Art-Related Disputes. Etudes en droit de l’art, vol. 11. Zurich: Schulthess.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, Kevin. 2004. War and Cultural Heritage: An Analysis of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Leicester: Institute of Art and Law.Google Scholar
Chechi, Alessandro. 2008. “The Return of Cultural Objects Removed in Times of Colonial Domination and International Law: The Case of the Venus of Cyrene.” Italian Yearbook of International Law 18: 159–81.Google Scholar
Chechi, Alessandro. 2013. “Plurality and Coordination of Dispute Settlement Methods in the Field of Cultural Heritage.” In Enforcing International Cultural Heritage Law, edited by Francioni, Francesco and Gordley, James, 177205. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Chechi, Alessandro. 2014. The Settlement of International Cultural Heritage Disputes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cuno, James. 2008. Who Owns Antiquity: Museums and the Battle over Our Ancient Heritage. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Cornu, Marie, and Renold, Marc-Andre. 2010. “New Developments in the Restitution of Cultural Property: Alternative Means of Dispute Resolution.” International Journal of Cultural Property 17, no. 1: 131.Google Scholar
Dempsey, Judy. 2013. How Looted Art Haunts German-Russian Relations. http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=52181 (accessed October 2015).Google Scholar
Eichwede, Wolfgang. 2010. “Trophy Art as Ambassadors: Reflections beyond Diplomatic Deadlock in the German-Russian Dialogue.” International Journal of Cultural Property 17, no. 2: 387412.Google Scholar
Falkoff, Stacey. 2007. “Mutually Beneficial Repatriation Agreements: Returning Cultural Patrimony, Perpetuating the Illicit Antiquities Market.” Journal of Law and Policy 16, no.1: 265304.Google Scholar
Felch, Jason, and Frammolino, Ralph. 2011. Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World’s Richest Museum. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Google Scholar
Fincham, Derek. 2014. “Transnational Forfeiture of the Getty Bronze.” Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Law Journal 32, no. 2: 471500.Google Scholar
Fouseki, Kalliopi. 2014. “Claiming the Parthenon Marbles Back: Whose Claim and on Behalf of Whom?” In Museums and Restitution: New Practices, New Approaches, edited by Tythacott, L. and Arvanitis, K., 163–78. Farnham: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Fouseki, Kalliopi, and Shehade, Maria. 2016. “Heritage Activism and Cultural Rights: The Case of the New Acropolis Museum.” In Heritage in Action: Making the Past in the Present, edited by Silverman, H., Waterton, E., and Watson, S.. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. In press.Google Scholar
Francioni, Francesco, and Gordley, James, eds. 2013. Enforcing International Cultural Heritage Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gazi, Andromache. 1990. “Museums and National Cultural Property: I. The Question of Restitution.” Museum Management and Curatorship 9: 121–35.Google Scholar
Gelfand, Michele, Ashley, Fulmer, and Laura, Severance. 2011. “The Psychology of Negotiation and Mediation.” In APA Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, vol. 3, edited by Zedeck, Sheldon, 495554. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Greenfield, Jeanette. 2013. The Return of Cultural Treasures, 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Grimsted, Patricia Kennedy. 2010. “Legalizing ‘Compensation’ and the Spoils of War: The Russian Law on Displaced Cultural Valuables and the Manipulation of Historical Memory.” International Journal of Cultural Property 17, no. 2: 217–55.Google Scholar
Haines, Aaron. 2012. “The Hattusha Sphinx and Turkish Antiquities Repatriation Efforts.” Journal of Art Crime 8: 99103.Google Scholar
Hamilakis, Yiannis. 2007. The Nation and Its Ruins: Antiquity, Archaeology, and National Imagination in Greece. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hamilakis, Yannis, and Yalouri, Eleana. 1996. “Antiquities as Symbolic Capital in Modern Greece.” Antiquity 70: 117–29.Google Scholar
Hitchens, Christopher. 2008. The Parthenon Marbles: The Case for Reunification. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Hoffman, Barbara, ed. 2009. Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Houpt, Simon. 2006. Museum of the Missing: A History of Art Theft. New York: Sterling Publishing.Google Scholar
Jonsson, Christer, and Aggestam, Karin. 2009. “Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution.” In The Sage Handbook of Conflict Resolution, edited by Bercovitch, J., Kremenyuk, V., and Zartman, W., 3351. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Kaye, Lawrence. 1999. “Disputes Relating to the Ownership and Status of Cultural Property.” In Resolution Methods for Art-related Disputes, edited by Byrne-Sutton, Q. and Geisinger-Mariéthoz, F., 3554. Etudes en droit de l’art, vol. 11. Zurich: Schulthess.Google Scholar
King, Jamie Litvak. 1999. “Cultural Property and National Sovereignty.” In Ethics of Collecting Cultural Property: Whose Culture? Whose Property?, edited by Messenger, P., 199208. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.Google Scholar
Kynourgiopoulou, Vasiliki. 2011. “National Identity Interrupted: The Mutilation of the Parthenon Marbles and the Greek Claim for Repatriation.” In Contested Cultural Heritage: Religion, Nationalism, Erasure and Exclusion in a Global World, edited by Silverman, Helaine, 155–70. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Lewicki, Roy, Saunders, David, and Minton, John. 1999. Negotiation, 3rd ed. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Listing, Rosemary. 2011. “The Treasure Quest: Peru, Machu Picchu and the Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911–1916.” Art Antiquity and Law 16, no. 1: 6778.Google Scholar
Mayer, Bernard. 1987. “The Dynamics of Power in Mediation and Negotiation.” Mediation Quarterly 16: 7586.Google Scholar
Merryman, John H. 1986. “Two Ways of Thinking About Cultural Property.” American Journal of International Law 80, no. 4: 831–53.Google Scholar
Monten, Lisa. 2004. “Soviet World War II Trophy Art in Present Day Russia: The Events, the Law, and the Current Controversies.” DePaul—LCA Journal of Art and Entertainment Law 15, no. 1: 3798.Google Scholar
Nafziger, James. 2004. “A Blueprint for Avoiding and Resolving Cultural Heritage Disputes.” Art Antiquity and Law 9, no. 1: 320.Google Scholar
Nairne, Sandy. 2011. Art Theft and the Case of the Stolen Turners. London: Reaktion Books.Google Scholar
O’Keefe, Patrick. 2007. Commentary on the 1970 UNESCO Convention, 2nd ed. Leicester: Institute of Art and Law.Google Scholar
Palmer, Norman. 2004. “Litigation: The Best Remedy?” In Resolution of Cultural Property Disputes: Papers Emanating from the Seventh Pca International Law Seminar, May 23, 2003 (Permanent Court of Arbitration/Peace Palace Papers), vol. 7, edited by International Bureau of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, 265–90. Dordrecht: Kluwer Law International.Google Scholar
Palmer, Norman. 2009. “Litigation: The Best Remedy?” In Witnesses to History: Documents and Writings on the Return of Cultural Objects, edited by Prott, L., 358–68. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.Google Scholar
Papa-Sokal, Marina. 2009. “Beyond the Nationalist-Internationalist Polarization in the Protection of Archaeological Heritage: A Response to Professor Merryman.” Art Antiquity and Law 14, no. 3: 237–74.Google Scholar
Parkhomenko, Konstantin. 2011. “Taking Transnational Cultural Heritage Seriously: Towards a Global System for Resolving Disputes over Stolen and Illegally-Exported Art.” Art Antiquity and Law 16, no. 2: 145–60.Google Scholar
Paterson, Robert. 1995. “The Legal Dynamics of Cultural Property Export Controls: Ortiz Revisited.” University of British Columbia Law Review, Special Issue: 241–58.Google Scholar
Pavoni, Riccardo. 2013. “Sovereign Immunity and the Enforcement of International Cultural Property Law.” In Enforcing International Cultural Heritage Law, edited by Francioni, Francesco, and Gordley, James, 79110. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Prott, Lyndel. 2010. “The Sphinx within the Wall: A Tale of Two Germanies and Three Sphinxes.” Art Antiquity and the Law 15, no. 2: 147–55.Google Scholar
Renold, Marc Andre. 2009. “Arbitration and Mediation as Alternative Resolution Mechanisms in Disputes Relating to the Restitution of Cultural Property.” In Crossing Cultures: Conflict, Migration and Convergence—The Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress of the History of Art, 1104–6. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.Google Scholar
Rothfield, Lawrence, ed. 2008. Antiquities under Siege: Cultural Heritage Protection after the Iraq War. Lanham: Altamira Press.Google Scholar
Rothfield, Lawrence. 2009. The Rape of Mesopotamia: Behind the Looting of the Iraq Museum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Scott-Rau, Alan. 1999. “Mediation in Art-Related Disputes.” In Resolution Methods for Art-Related Disputes, edited by Byrne-Sutton, Q. and Geisinger-Mariéthoz, F., 153–98. Etudes en droit de l’art, vol. 11. Zurich: Schulthess.Google Scholar
Scovazzi, Tullio. 2009. “The Return of the Venus of Cyrene.” Art Antiquity and the Law 14, no. 4: 355–58.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Daniel. 1999. “Litigation and Art-Related Disputes.” In Resolution Methods for Art-Related Disputes, edited by Byrne-Sutton, Q. and Geisinger-Mariéthoz, F., 1734. Etudes en droit de l’art, vol. 11. Zurich: Schulthess.Google Scholar
Shyllon, Folarin. 2011. “Looting and Illicit Traffic in Antiquities in Africa.” In Crime in the Art and Antiquities World: Illegal Trafficking in Cultural Property, edited by Manacorda, S. and Chappell, D., 135–42. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Silver, Vernon. 2009. The Lost Chalice. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Simpson, Elizabeth, ed. 1997. The Spoils of War: World War II and Its Aftermath: The Loss, Reappearance, and Recovery of Cultural Property. New York: H.N. Abrams, in association with the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts.Google Scholar
Stamatoudi, Irini. 2009. “Mediation and Cultural Diplomacy.” Museum International 61, no. 1–2: 116–20.Google Scholar
Stamatoudi, Irini. 2011. Cultural Property Law and Restitution: A Commentary to International Conventions and European Union Law. IHC Series in Heritage Management. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Strother, Grant. 2014. “Resolving Cultural Property Disputes in the Shadow of the Law.” Harvard Negotiation Law Review 19: 335–76.Google Scholar
Swanson, Stephanie. 2009. “Repatriating Cultural Property: The Dispute between Yale and Peru over the Treasures of Machu Picchu.” San Diego International Law Journal 10: 469–94.Google Scholar
Teixeira, Maria Ines. 2015. “Future Plans, Aggressive Policies? A Look at Turkey’s Heritage Repatriation Strategy.” In HISTART ‘15 : History of Art Conference Proceedings, October 9, 2015, Cezayir Conference Halls, Istanbul Turkey, edited by Öztürk, B., 3742. Istanbul: Eastern Mediterranean Academic Research Center and Science, Art, Sport Productions.Google Scholar
Ury, William, Brett, Jeanne, and Goldberg, Stephen. 1988. Getting Disputes Resolved: Designing Systems to Cut the Costs of Conflict. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.Google Scholar
Varner, Elizabeth. 2012. “Arbitrating Cultural Property Disputes.” Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 13: 477526.Google Scholar
Warren, Karen. 1999. “Introduction: A Philosophical Perspective on the Ethics and Resolution of Cultural Property Issues.” In Ethics of Collecting Cultural Property: Whose Culture? Whose Property?, edited by Messenger, P., 124. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.Google Scholar
Watson, Peter, and Todeschini, Cecilia. 2007. The Medici Conspiracy. New York: PublicAffairs.Google Scholar
Waxman, Sharon. 2008. Loot: Tomb Robbers, Treasure and the Great Museum Debate. London: Old Street Publishing.Google Scholar
Wilkie, Nancy. 2009. “Colonization and Its Effect on the Cultural Property of Libya.” In Cultural Heritage Issues: The Legacy of Conquest, Colonization, and Commerce, edited by Nafziger, James and Nicgorski, Ann, 169–83. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.Google Scholar
Yeo, Andrew. 2011. Activists, Alliances and Anti-US Base Protests. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar