Theorizing Repatriation

in Ethnologia Europaea
Author:
Martin Skrydstrup Columbia University martin.skrydstrup@anthro.ku.dk

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This contribution is a stab at unpacking the discursive register restitution, return and repatriation. Initially, I map the genealogies of these terms, suggesting that an adequate conceptualization rests on the elementary forms of reciprocity and recognition. I contend that the discursive register can both be understood within neo-Maussian exchange theory as a set of transactional orders resting on sliding scales of obligation and within postcolonial theory hinging on the concept of recognition. I further argue that repatriation claims cannot be conceived independently from the regimes of recognition they address, which both enable and silence claims. I conclude by suggesting that the intersection of reciprocity and recognition might illuminate the institution of cultural property asa phenomenon of postcolonial potlatching.

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