The racial regime of international cultural heritage law

Giorgallis, Andreas 2025. The racial regime of international cultural heritage law. International Journal of Heritage Studies 10.1080/13527258.2025.2520757

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Abstract

This article examines the interaction between race, cultural heritage and law. To this end, it provides an overview of how race manifests itself when it comes to cultural heritage, with reference to the restitution of colonial cultural objects, statues related to slavery and colonialism, intangible cultural heritage but also its protection during armed conflict. It puts forward the argument for the existence of a racial regime of international cultural heritage law, by pointing out that there is no monolithic way in which these three parameters interact with each other. Forms and manifestations it takes include its confirmation in an explicit manner, reaching its apogee with the concept of cultura nullius introduced in this paper, its negotiation in various directions, its disregard or its indirect confirmation. This exposition instigates a series of critical reflections within the domain of international cultural heritage law and heritage studies concerning the conceptualisation of cultural heritage and its concomitant narratives. While this paper acknowledges the existence of a more nuanced picture, it still suggests that the racial regime of international cultural heritage law is whiter than is usually surmised or acknowledged.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Cardiff Law & Politics
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/, Start Date: 2025-07-03
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	1352-7258
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 July 2025
Date of Acceptance:	12 June 2025
Last Modified:	17 Jul 2025 09:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179884

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