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Conflict of Laws in Intellectual Property: The CLIP Principles and Commentary
by European Max Planck Group on Conflict of Laws in Intellectual PropertyThe Conflict of Laws in Intellectual Property (CLIP) Principles address issues of private law for disputes involving intellectual property rights. They were produced by a Max Planck Institute research project, in which the authors of this work were heavily involved. The Principles are intended to provide a model European framework to respond to the increasing need for guidance on the applicable law. They represent a significant body of work which will help to inform developing practice on applicable law and conflict throughout the field. This new work presents the Principles, alongside article-by-article commentary and notes, which analyse thoroughly the context of the rule within the Principles, as well as within the existing legal solutions at the national, European and international level. It also explores the policy considerations underlying the rule, enabling a better understanding of why the Principles adopt the solutions laid out in the rules. Useful references are provided to the relevant legal provisions and cases dealing with the respective issues of intellectual property and private international law.
Conflict of Laws in Intellectual Property: The CLIP Principles and Commentary
by European Max Planck Group on Conflict of Laws in Intellectual PropertyThe Conflict of Laws in Intellectual Property (CLIP) Principles address issues of private law for disputes involving intellectual property rights. They were produced by a Max Planck Institute research project, in which the authors of this work were heavily involved. The Principles are intended to provide a model European framework to respond to the increasing need for guidance on the applicable law. They represent a significant body of work which will help to inform developing practice on applicable law and conflict throughout the field. This new work presents the Principles, alongside article-by-article commentary and notes, which analyse thoroughly the context of the rule within the Principles, as well as within the existing legal solutions at the national, European and international level. It also explores the policy considerations underlying the rule, enabling a better understanding of why the Principles adopt the solutions laid out in the rules. Useful references are provided to the relevant legal provisions and cases dealing with the respective issues of intellectual property and private international law.
Conflict of Laws (PDF)
by Maebh HardingConflict of Laws provides a straight-forward and accessible introduction to English private international law. It examines the jurisdiction of English courts (and whether their judgments are enforced and recognized overseas) and the effect of foreign judgments in England. Recent years have seen an increased 'Europeanization' of English Law which has transformed the subject and this fifth edition takes into account key recent developments and regulations including proposed changes to Brussels I, Rome II, The Maintenance Regulation, Rome III, the proposed Rome IV and the proposed Succession Regulation. Harding provides students with a clear understanding using pedagogic methods such as; Key Issues checklists at the start of every chapter to help track important points for further study Figures are used to aid understanding through visual learning Further Reading is included at the end of every chapter to enourage and support additional study Further developments addressed in the fifth edition include: * The use of common law doctrines in EU cases such as West Tankers. * The EU imperative for family relationships to be recognized across the EU in the context of citizen's rights. * Civil Partnerships and recognition of same sex partnership. * Rome III, Rome IV and the distinction between maintenance and matrimonial property. * Adoption, Parental Responsibility and International Child Abduction * Surrogacy and Assisted Reproduction Conflict of Laws is an ideal choice for undergraduate and postgraduate students seeking a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to private international law. 9780415695053 9781315886831 978131588683 9781134594320
Conflict, Power, and Organizational Change (ISSN)
by Deborah A. ColwillA capacity for learning, adapting, and changing is an important facet of organizational resilience. What is involved in generative organizational change? Is it an event, a process, or constantly ongoing? What makes organizational change "good" for the organization? Who has the power to decide what is "good" for the organization and its members? How is it decided? What if there is strong disagreement or conflict? How is that handled? What is the role of organizational members and leaders in these discussions? As these questions demonstrate, the triad of change, power and conflict are intimately linked. The purpose of this book is to explore the topics of change, power and conflict as they relate to the experiences of everyday organizational life. It will provide readers the opportunity to reflect critically on their own local experience and involvement in organizations and to glean actionable wisdom for meaningful engagement and impactful contributions to their organization(s) in the present and future.Conflict, Power, and Organizational Change will be of interest to students, researchers, academics and professional colleagues interested in the fields of business and organizational studies, especially those wanting to get acquainted with the concepts of change, power and conflict in contemporary organizational settings.
Conflict, Power, and Organizational Change (ISSN)
by Deborah A. ColwillA capacity for learning, adapting, and changing is an important facet of organizational resilience. What is involved in generative organizational change? Is it an event, a process, or constantly ongoing? What makes organizational change "good" for the organization? Who has the power to decide what is "good" for the organization and its members? How is it decided? What if there is strong disagreement or conflict? How is that handled? What is the role of organizational members and leaders in these discussions? As these questions demonstrate, the triad of change, power and conflict are intimately linked. The purpose of this book is to explore the topics of change, power and conflict as they relate to the experiences of everyday organizational life. It will provide readers the opportunity to reflect critically on their own local experience and involvement in organizations and to glean actionable wisdom for meaningful engagement and impactful contributions to their organization(s) in the present and future.Conflict, Power, and Organizational Change will be of interest to students, researchers, academics and professional colleagues interested in the fields of business and organizational studies, especially those wanting to get acquainted with the concepts of change, power and conflict in contemporary organizational settings.
Conflict, Power, and the Landscape of Constitutionalism
by Gilles TaraboutThe book seeks to critically examine the implication of a constitution of law for a political society. It presents a collection of essays that seek to investigate how power acts on power, how limits produce excess, how separation of powers produces the union of powers (sanctified by the very constitution that had guaranteed the division in the first place), and how the theory of separation is, at the same time, a myth and a reality. At the backdrop of the book, of course, is the theory that every good constitution rigorously separates the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary from one another to guarantee the independence of each of these powers, such that this separation results in life, liberty, and security. If a constitution, however, symbolises and produces power, precisely because it separates one site of power from another, it follows that it is power itself that is the limit of power. Constitutionalism as a political culture of laws, therefore, must explain the dynamics of power.The book addresses both constitutions and the societies in which they emerge. Many of the essays in this collection show how institutional practices originating from a legal text create a matrix of power that owes its life, neither to a contract between men, nor between the state and men, nor even between the society and men, but rather to relations established, organized, and formalized by laws. The collection is significant because it gives colonial and post-colonial experiences a justified place in studies of law and constitutionalism, for it shows that while Montesquieu, Kant, and Burke each in their own way were promoting the spirit of laws, a more significant history of law-making was being enacted in order to defend a particular rule, and a particular type of government on another side of the world. Based on comparative studies in several countries across three continents, the book centrally deals with issues of constitutionalism, politica
Conflict, Power, and the Landscape of Constitutionalism
by Gilles Tarabout Ranabir SamaddarThe book seeks to critically examine the implication of a constitution of law for a political society. It presents a collection of essays that seek to investigate how power acts on power, how limits produce excess, how separation of powers produces the union of powers (sanctified by the very constitution that had guaranteed the division in the first place), and how the theory of separation is, at the same time, a myth and a reality. At the backdrop of the book, of course, is the theory that every good constitution rigorously separates the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary from one another to guarantee the independence of each of these powers, such that this separation results in life, liberty, and security. If a constitution, however, symbolises and produces power, precisely because it separates one site of power from another, it follows that it is power itself that is the limit of power. Constitutionalism as a political culture of laws, therefore, must explain the dynamics of power.The book addresses both constitutions and the societies in which they emerge. Many of the essays in this collection show how institutional practices originating from a legal text create a matrix of power that owes its life, neither to a contract between men, nor between the state and men, nor even between the society and men, but rather to relations established, organized, and formalized by laws. The collection is significant because it gives colonial and post-colonial experiences a justified place in studies of law and constitutionalism, for it shows that while Montesquieu, Kant, and Burke each in their own way were promoting the spirit of laws, a more significant history of law-making was being enacted in order to defend a particular rule, and a particular type of government on another side of the world. Based on comparative studies in several countries across three continents, the book centrally deals with issues of constitutionalism, politica
Conflict Prevention in the UN´s Agenda 2030: Development, Peace, Justice and Human Rights
by Bertrand Ramcharan Robin RamcharanThis book analyses the UN’s Agenda 2030 and reveals that progress is lagging on all five interlocking and interdependent themes that are discussed: conflict prevention, development, peace, justice and human rights. Many voices have already been raised, including that of the UN Secretary-General that the Sustainable Development Goals will not be met by 2030 unless there is a re-doubling of efforts. Still, on development as such, there is much striving. The book puts the concept of preventive diplomacy into all of the issues of modern international relations, from the US/China confrontation to the various conflicts bedeviling Africa. It bridges the two worlds of the international relations specialist on the one hand and that of the academic interested in UN affairs on the other hand. There is normally little contact between those two specializations. The authors have taken several current issues to show how the millennium debates and the SDG targets are relevant to "realist school" conflicts, and that there is work under way to operationalize ideas and theories in this respect. This is the first ever discussion of the conflict prevention dimension in the UN’s Agenda 2030 which seeks to advance sustainable development with a view to reinforcing peace and justice on the foundations of respect for universal human rights.
Conflict Resolution and its Context: From the Analysis of Behavioural Patterns to Efficient Decision-Making (Law, Governance and Technology Series #18)
by Davide Carneiro Paulo Novais José NevesThis book studies how technological solutions can be used to alleviate the current state of legal systems, with their clogged up courtrooms and inefficient conflict resolution methods. It reviews the shortcomings and disadvantages of traditional and alternative conflict resolution methods and turns to Artificial Intelligence for problem-solving techniques and solutions. The book is divided into four parts. The first part presents a general and systematic analysis of the current state of the legal systems, identifying the main problems and their causes. It then moves on to present UM Court: a framework for testing and prototyping conflict resolution services. This framework was developed with the objective of using Artificial Intelligence techniques to build a service environment for conflict resolution. The third part of the book takes a step into the future by analyzing the use of Intelligent Environments in the support of conflict management and resolution. It describes the approach taken and the experiments performed in the Intelligent Systems Lab of the University of Minho. The final part of the book contains the conclusions and shows the potential advantages of the use of Intelligent Environments as a way to implement better conflict resolution procedures (virtual or real), in which all the participants have access to more and better information and are able to take better informed decisions.
Conflicting Philosophies and International Trade Law: Worldviews and the WTO
by Michael BurkardThis book reveals how conflicting worldviews are at the root of public controversies on policy and trade issues. It highlights the particularly controversial disputes at the level of the World Trade Organization in the case of regulating beef-hormones and GMOs, aiming to show how negotiators of international agreements, members of dispute settlement bodies, and policy makers in general could have recourse to concepts of other disciplines such as epistemology and philosophy in order to address deadlocked legal disputes. Ultimately, the book is a manifesto for independent and critical research.
Conflicting Philosophies and International Trade Law: Worldviews and the WTO
by Michael BurkardThis book reveals how conflicting worldviews are at the root of public controversies on policy and trade issues. It highlights the particularly controversial disputes at the level of the World Trade Organization in the case of regulating beef-hormones and GMOs, aiming to show how negotiators of international agreements, members of dispute settlement bodies, and policy makers in general could have recourse to concepts of other disciplines such as epistemology and philosophy in order to address deadlocked legal disputes. Ultimately, the book is a manifesto for independent and critical research.
Conflicts in a Conflict: A Conflict of Laws Case Study on Israel and the Palestinian Territories
by Michael Karayanni Center for International Legal EducationConflicts in a Conflict outlines and analyzes the legal doctrines instructing the Israeli courts in private and civil disputes involving the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, since 1967 until the present day. In doing so, author, Michael Karayanni sheds light on a whole sphere of legal designs and norms that have not received any thorough scholarly attention, as most of the writings thus far have been on issues pertaining to international law, human rights, history, and politics. For the most part, Israeli courts turned to conflict of laws, or private international law to address private disputes implicating the Palestinian Territories. After making a thorough investigation into the jurisdictional designs of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, both before and after the Oslo Peace Accords, Conflicts in a Conflict comes to focus on traditional topics such as adjudicative jurisdiction, choice of law, and recognitions and enforcement of judgments. Related issues such as the foreign sovereign immunity claim of the Palestinian Authority before Israeli courts as well as the extent to which Palestinian plaintiffs were granted access to justice rights, are also outlined and analyzed. This book's compelling thesis is the existence of a close relationship between conflict of laws doctrines as they developed over the years and Israeli policies generally in respect of the Palestinian Territories. This study of the conflict of laws in a war setting and conflict of laws in a jurisdictionally ambiguous location, will greatly serve scholars and practitioners in similarly troubled and complex legal situations elsewhere.
Conflicts of Criminal Jurisdiction and Transfer of Proceedings in the EU (Comparative, European and International Criminal Justice #3)
by Alejandro Hernández LópezFramework Decision 2009/948/JHA on the prevention and settlement of conflicts of exercise of jurisdiction in criminal proceedings established an ad hoc procedure for settling conflicts of criminal jurisdiction based on the mutual exchange of information and the establishment of direct consultations between the competent authorities with a view to reaching consensus on an effective solution. However, neither common legally binding criteria for deciding the best jurisdiction nor specific rules for the transfer of proceedings (which can occur after parallel proceedings have been identified) were established in this instrument, or in any other instrument adopted by the EU to date. This book analyses the current EU legal framework on conflicts of jurisdiction and transfer of criminal proceedings, paying special attention to its numerous shortcomings and loopholes from a fundamental rights and due process of law perspective. The book begins with an assessment of the various principles and grounds used by Member States for claiming criminal jurisdiction. Secondly, de lege lata EU procedure on the settlement of conflicts of criminal jurisdiction, as well as its implementation in Spain and Italy, are thoroughly examined. After discussing the main principles and fundamental rights at stake, the author proposes two alternative and original de lege ferenda models for the prevention and settlement of conflicts of criminal jurisdiction and transfer of criminal proceedings, exploring the different possibilities offered by the EU’s primary law.
Conflicts of Interest and the Future of Medicine: The United States, France, and Japan
by Marc A. RodwinAs most Americans know, conflicts of interest riddle the US health care system. They result from physicians practicing medicine as entrepreneurs, from physicians' ties to pharma, and from investor-owned firms and insurers' influence over physicians' medial choices. These conflicts raise questions about physicians' loyalty to their patients and their professional and economic independence. The consequences of such conflicts of interest are often devastating for the patients--and society--stuck in the middle. In Conflicts of Interest and the Future of Medicine, Marc Rodwin examines the development of these conflicts in the US, France, and Japan. He shows that national differences in the organization of medical practice and the interplay of organized medicine, the market, and the state give rise to variations in the type and prevalence of such conflicts. He then analyzes the strategies that each nation employs to cope with them. Unfortunately, many proposals to address physicians' conflicts of interest do not offer solutions that stick. But drawing on the experiences of these three nations, Rodwin demonstrates that we can mitigate these problems with carefully planned reform and regulation. He examines a range of measures that can be taken in the private and public sector to preserve medical professionalism--and concludes that there just might be more than one prescription to this seemingly incurable malady.
Conflicts of Interest and the Future of Medicine: The United States, France, and Japan
by Marc A. RodwinAs most Americans know, conflicts of interest riddle the US health care system. They result from physicians practicing medicine as entrepreneurs, from physicians' ties to pharma, and from investor-owned firms and insurers' influence over physicians' medial choices. These conflicts raise questions about physicians' loyalty to their patients and their professional and economic independence. The consequences of such conflicts of interest are often devastating for the patients--and society--stuck in the middle. In Conflicts of Interest and the Future of Medicine, Marc Rodwin examines the development of these conflicts in the US, France, and Japan. He shows that national differences in the organization of medical practice and the interplay of organized medicine, the market, and the state give rise to variations in the type and prevalence of such conflicts. He then analyzes the strategies that each nation employs to cope with them. Unfortunately, many proposals to address physicians' conflicts of interest do not offer solutions that stick. But drawing on the experiences of these three nations, Rodwin demonstrates that we can mitigate these problems with carefully planned reform and regulation. He examines a range of measures that can be taken in the private and public sector to preserve medical professionalism--and concludes that there just might be more than one prescription to this seemingly incurable malady.
Conflicts of Law and Morality (Clarendon Law Series)
by Kent GreenawaltPowerful emotion and pursuit of self-interest have many times led people to break the law with the belief that they are doing so with sound moral reasons. This study, a comprehensive philosophical and legal analysis of the gray area in which the foundations of law and morality clash, views these oblique circumstances from two perspectives: that of the person who faces a possible conflict between the claims of morality and law and must choose whether or not to obey the penal code; and that of the people who make and uphold laws and must decide whether to treat someone with a moral claim to disobey differently from ordinary lawbreakers. In examining the extent of the obligations owed by citizens to their government, Greenawalt concentrates on the possible existence of a single source of obligation that reaches all citizens and all laws. He also discusses techniques of amelioration of punishment for conscientious lawbreakers, asking how far legal systems should go to accommodate individuals who break the law for reason of conscience. Drawing from numerous examples of conflicts between law and morality, Greeawalt illustrates in detail the positions and predicaments of potential lawbreakers and lawmakers alike.
The Confluence of Philosophy and Law in Applied Ethics
by Norbert PauloThe law serves a function that is not often taken seriously enough by ethicists, namely practicability. A consequence of practicability is that law requires elaborated and explicit methodologies that determine how to do things with norms. This consequence forms the core idea behind this book, which employs methods from legal theory to inform and examine debates on methodology in applied ethics, particularly bioethics. It is argued that almost all legal methods have counterparts in applied ethics, which indicates that much can be gained from comparative study of the two. The author first outlines methods as used in legal theory, focusing on deductive reasoning with statutes as well as analogical reasoning with precedent cases. He then examines three representative kinds of contemporary ethical theories, Beauchamp and Childress’s principlism, Jonsen and Toulmin’s casuistry, and two versions of consequentialism—Singer’s preference utilitarianism and Hooker’s rule-consequentialism—with regards to their methods. These examinations lead to the Morisprudence Model for methods in applied ethics.
Conformity of Goods and Documents: The Vienna Sales Convention
by Djakhongir SaidovThis book provides a detailed examination of the issue of conformity of goods and documents under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods 1980 (CISG). This issue lies at the heart of sales law and is one of the most frequently litigated. The book explores: the Convention's requirements as to quality, quantity, description and packaging of the goods (conformity); the requirements flowing from the need for the goods to be free from rights or claims of third parties; and the questions of what documents the seller must deliver to the buyer and what constitutes a 'good' document under the CISG. The book engages extensively with a substantial body of cases decided under the CISG and academic commentary. It systematises the Convention's experience to date with a view to turning it into an integrated, comprehensive and distinctive CISG legal regime on conformity of goods and documents. The analysis is comparative and draws on the experience of some major domestic legal systems, such as English and US law. The focus is both analytical and practical. The book will be of interest to legal practitioners, academic lawyers and students with an interest in international and comparative sales, commercial and contract law.
Conformity of Goods and Documents: The Vienna Sales Convention
by Djakhongir SaidovThis book provides a detailed examination of the issue of conformity of goods and documents under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods 1980 (CISG). This issue lies at the heart of sales law and is one of the most frequently litigated. The book explores: the Convention's requirements as to quality, quantity, description and packaging of the goods (conformity); the requirements flowing from the need for the goods to be free from rights or claims of third parties; and the questions of what documents the seller must deliver to the buyer and what constitutes a 'good' document under the CISG. The book engages extensively with a substantial body of cases decided under the CISG and academic commentary. It systematises the Convention's experience to date with a view to turning it into an integrated, comprehensive and distinctive CISG legal regime on conformity of goods and documents. The analysis is comparative and draws on the experience of some major domestic legal systems, such as English and US law. The focus is both analytical and practical. The book will be of interest to legal practitioners, academic lawyers and students with an interest in international and comparative sales, commercial and contract law.
Confrontations with the Reaper: A Philosophical Study of the Nature and Value of Death
by Fred FeldmanWhat is death? Do people survive death? What do we mean when we say that someone is "dying"? Presenting a clear and engaging discussion of the classic philosophical questions surrounding death, this book studies the great metaphysical and moral problems of death. In the first part, Feldman shows that a definition of life is necessary before death can be defined. After exploring several of the most plausible accounts of the nature of life and demonstrating their failure, he goes on to propose his own conceptual scheme for death and related concepts. In the second part, Feldman turns to ethical and value-theoretical questions about death. Addressing the ancient Epicurean ethical problem about the evil of death, he argues that death can be a great evil for those who die, even if they do not exist after death, because it may deprive them of the goods they would have enjoyed if they had continued to live. Confrontations with the Reaper concludes with a novel consequentialist theory about the morality of killing, applying it to such thorny practical issues as abortion, suicide, and euthanasia.
Confrontations with the Reaper: A Philosophical Study of the Nature and Value of Death
by Fred FeldmanWhat is death? Do people survive death? What do we mean when we say that someone is "dying"? Presenting a clear and engaging discussion of the classic philosophical questions surrounding death, this book studies the great metaphysical and moral problems of death. In the first part, Feldman shows that a definition of life is necessary before death can be defined. After exploring several of the most plausible accounts of the nature of life and demonstrating their failure, he goes on to propose his own conceptual scheme for death and related concepts. In the second part, Feldman turns to ethical and value-theoretical questions about death. Addressing the ancient Epicurean ethical problem about the evil of death, he argues that death can be a great evil for those who die, even if they do not exist after death, because it may deprive them of the goods they would have enjoyed if they had continued to live. Confrontations with the Reaper concludes with a novel consequentialist theory about the morality of killing, applying it to such thorny practical issues as abortion, suicide, and euthanasia.
Confronting Aristotle's Ethics: Ancient and Modern Morality
by Eugene GarverWhat is the good life? Posing this question today would likely elicit very different answers. Some might say that the good life means doing good—improving one’s community and the lives of others. Others might respond that it means doing well—cultivating one’s own abilities in a meaningful way. But for Aristotle these two distinct ideas—doing good and doing well—were one and the same and could be realized in a single life. In Confronting Aristotle’s Ethics, Eugene Garver examines how we can draw this conclusion from Aristotle's works, while also studying how this conception of the good life relates to contemporary ideas of morality. The key to Aristotle’s views on ethics, argues Garver, lies in the Metaphysics or, more specifically, in his thoughts on activities, actions, and capacities. For Aristotle, Garver shows, it is only possible to be truly active when acting for the common good, and it is only possible to be truly happy when active to the extent of one’s own powers. But does this mean we should aspire to Aristotle’s impossibly demanding vision of the good life? In a word, no. Garver stresses the enormous gap between life in Aristotle’s time and ours. As a result, this bookwill be a welcome rumination on not only Aristotle, but the relationship between the individual and society in everyday life.
Confronting Aristotle's Ethics: Ancient and Modern Morality
by Eugene GarverWhat is the good life? Posing this question today would likely elicit very different answers. Some might say that the good life means doing good—improving one’s community and the lives of others. Others might respond that it means doing well—cultivating one’s own abilities in a meaningful way. But for Aristotle these two distinct ideas—doing good and doing well—were one and the same and could be realized in a single life. In Confronting Aristotle’s Ethics, Eugene Garver examines how we can draw this conclusion from Aristotle's works, while also studying how this conception of the good life relates to contemporary ideas of morality. The key to Aristotle’s views on ethics, argues Garver, lies in the Metaphysics or, more specifically, in his thoughts on activities, actions, and capacities. For Aristotle, Garver shows, it is only possible to be truly active when acting for the common good, and it is only possible to be truly happy when active to the extent of one’s own powers. But does this mean we should aspire to Aristotle’s impossibly demanding vision of the good life? In a word, no. Garver stresses the enormous gap between life in Aristotle’s time and ours. As a result, this bookwill be a welcome rumination on not only Aristotle, but the relationship between the individual and society in everyday life.
Confronting Aristotle's Ethics: Ancient and Modern Morality
by Eugene GarverWhat is the good life? Posing this question today would likely elicit very different answers. Some might say that the good life means doing good—improving one’s community and the lives of others. Others might respond that it means doing well—cultivating one’s own abilities in a meaningful way. But for Aristotle these two distinct ideas—doing good and doing well—were one and the same and could be realized in a single life. In Confronting Aristotle’s Ethics, Eugene Garver examines how we can draw this conclusion from Aristotle's works, while also studying how this conception of the good life relates to contemporary ideas of morality. The key to Aristotle’s views on ethics, argues Garver, lies in the Metaphysics or, more specifically, in his thoughts on activities, actions, and capacities. For Aristotle, Garver shows, it is only possible to be truly active when acting for the common good, and it is only possible to be truly happy when active to the extent of one’s own powers. But does this mean we should aspire to Aristotle’s impossibly demanding vision of the good life? In a word, no. Garver stresses the enormous gap between life in Aristotle’s time and ours. As a result, this bookwill be a welcome rumination on not only Aristotle, but the relationship between the individual and society in everyday life.
Confronting Colonial Objects: Histories, Legalities, and Access to Culture (Cultural Heritage Law and Policy)
by Carsten StahnThe treatment of cultural colonial objects is one of the most debated questions of our time. Calls for a new international cultural order go back to decolonization. However, for decades, the issue has been treated as a matter of comity or been reduced to a Shakespearean dilemma: to return or not to return. Confronting Colonial Objects seeks to go beyond these classic dichotomies and argues that contemporary practices are at a tipping point. The book shows that cultural takings were material to the colonial project throughout different periods and went far beyond looting. It presents micro histories and object biographies to trace recurring justifications and contestations of takings and returns while outlining the complicity of anthropology, racial science, and professional networks that enabled colonial collecting. The book demonstrates the dual role of law and cultural heritage regulation in facilitating colonial injustices and mobilizing resistance thereto. Drawing on the interplay between justice, ethics, and human rights, Stahn develops principles of relational cultural justice. He challenges the argument that takings were acceptable according to the standards of the time and outlines how future engagement requires a re-invention of knowledge systems and relations towards objects, including new forms of consent, provenance research, and partnership, and a re-thinking of the role of museums themselves. Following the life story and transformation of cultural objects, this book provides a fresh perspective on international law and colonial history that appeals to audiences across a variety of disciplines. This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.