Confronting Colonial Objects

Reviews / Votes

This rich and engaging book addresses the heritage of empire. It illuminates current debates over cultural objects displaced by colonial powers. Professor Stahn presents not only the historical and legal context of these debates but also proposes a nuanced account of relational cultural justice to navigate the dilemmas faced by cultural institutions. This is a profound contribution to cultural heritage scholarship. * Hilary Charlesworth, Judge of the International Court of Justice * This is a dynamic and insightful contribution to the growing literature on cultural colonial takings in law that takes seriously the complexity and urgency of multifaceted demands for colonial reparations. It is breathtaking in its coverage, and an expansive and nuanced reference text that is essential reading for anyone interested in law as a site of decolonial praxis. * E. Tendayi Achiume, Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance * A strong record of crimes and violations that have defined and determined a rapacious world order on which the soul and conscience of humanity are anchored. Professor Stahn exposes the forensic and legal blind-spots on which the imperial and colonial world powers relied to whitewash and legitimize the conquest and objectification of people, cultures, and civilizations for imperial/colonial self-glorification, racial superiority, and wealth. The book provides a sound multidisciplinary platform and tools for the decolonization of international law, the restitution of cultural heritage, and payment of reparations to affected communities world-wide. As an intergeneration victim of German colonial crimes against the Bangwa Kingdom and an advocate of justice for colonial and historical crimes, I strongly endorse this book. * Chief Charles A. Taku, Counsel before International Courts & Tribunals * Carsten Stahn's Confronting Colonial Objects systematizes, problematizes, and adds important theoretical heft to a debate that often eludes us for lacking those three things, ending up in the 'too difficult' box. It contributes to an essential reckoning. Its insights form a terrific platform from where to launch a much more grounded and better guided conversation with (and among) decolonized and post-colonial peoples and communities about what they want to happen to their own heritage. * Lucas Lixinski, Professor of Law, UNSW Sydney * Just as colonized peoples resisted colonialism by using the occupier's law to claim some rights, so they now use law to reclaim their cultural artefacts and human remains in western museums after winning independence. In this comprehensive and exacting study, Carsten Stahn traces this long-term process, and proposes 'relational cultural justice' principles to inform current restitution controversies. Sensitive to the voices 'from below' and conscious of the legal dilemmas confronting western institutions, Confronting Colonial Objects is essential reading for all parties. * A. Dirk Moses, author of The Problems of Genocide * Stahn's appealing approach in dealing with claimed cultural objects set out in Confronting Colonial Objects....the reader has been treated to 524 pages of a comprehensive factual and legal predicate that logically sets up and supports what I consider the gem of this book...I highly recommend Confronting Colonial Objects Histories, Legalities, and Access to Culture. It is a brilliant academic treated on the subject. * Michael G. Karnavas, International Criminal Law Blog *