Resist, Reclaim, Retrieve – The Long History of the Struggle for the Restitution

Resist, Reclaim, Retrieve - The Long History of the Struggle for the Restitution of Cultural Heritage and Ancestral Remains Taken under Colonial Conditions, brings together authors from countries in the Global South and North. They shed light on the long history of restitution claims from colonised countries, with a focus on the pre-1970 period.

Editors Larissa Förster, Jan Hüsgen and Sarah Fründt have divided their papers into three:

The Long Durée of Claims and the Longanimity of Claimants Protesting Dispossession since the Late Nineteenth Century.

Restitutions before the International Restitution Debate Strategies of Claimants and Agendas of Respondents, 1910s–1970.

Ancestors, National Heroes, World Heritage Human and Hominin Remains in Repatriation Politics.

The research reveals disputes about restitutions sometimes lasting for decades, traces veiled references to colonial violence by the former colonial powers in archives, and discusses what the “homecoming” of human remains can mean for societies.

The research reveals disputes about restitutions sometimes lasting for decades, traces veiled references to colonial violence by the former colonial powers in archives, and discusses what the “homecoming” of human remains can mean for societies.