Special Issue: International Journal of Cultural Property 2025
Guest Editors: Kristopher Wilson, Rhys Aston, and Unaisi Narawa
The governance and regulation of cultural property, at both domestic and international levels, continues to be shaped by colonial frameworks. For decades, Indigenous peoples have navigated imposed systems in order to reclaim, reestablish and reaffirm their cultural property (and their rights to it). These systems are marked not only by power imbalances and the structural exclusion of Indigenous worldviews, but also by fragmentation and inconsistent legal standards. Despite this, Indigenous peoples continue to strongly demand, and advocate for, meaningful recognition and protection of their cultural property and heritage. In light of this, there remains a need for scholarly, activist, and creative contributions that critique these shortcomings and envision pathways toward a more inclusive and just approach to cultural property.
Despite attempts to define it and the extensive history of attempts to build protective frameworks, there remains no universally accepted definition of cultural property.1 Within this elusive definition lies the need to further consider the definition of Indigenous cultural property and/or objects. Cultural objects, beyond the Indigenous context, are defined in instruments such as the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen of Illegally Exported Cultural Objects as those ‘which on religious or secular grounds, are of importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art, or science’ and additionally fall within one of the enumerated categories in the annex.2 The traditional categorisation of cultural heritage in this way, while broad and seemingly comprehensive, can sit uncomfortably with the diversity of Indigenous world views and their understanding of their own cultural, legal and spiritual expressions, which tend to adopt a more holistic and interconnected understanding of the role of cultural objects.
This special issue seeks to amplify the voices of those who are critically examining the ongoing challenges of cultural misappropriation, the erosion of cultural rights, and the disruption of cultural continuity alongside the successful advocacy and work of Indigenous scholars and communities in reasserting and reclaiming their rights to cultural property. This issue aims to explore the tensions and opportunities that arise at the intersection of Indigenous worldviews and Western legal frameworks, with a particular emphasis on the following interconnected themes and questions:
Indigenous Agency and Control Over Cultural Heritage
- How have Indigenous communities succeeded in their efforts to obtain the return and protection of their cultural property, and what lessons can be drawn from these successes?
- See, eg, Esterling, S.E. (2024). Indigenous Cultural Property and International Law: Restitution, Rights and Wrongs (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429060069
- UNIDROIT Convention, Art 2.
- How can Indigenous communities assert control over their cultural symbols, knowledge, and practices, particularly with the potential use of Indigenous Knowledges and cultural expressions in GenAI training datasets?
- What is the impact of cultural property removal on the continuity of Indigenous cultural practices? How does this removal contribute to the erosion of cultural right
Legal and Jurisdictional Challenges in Safeguarding Indigenous Cultural Heritage
- What challenges arise from jurisdictional limitations and the lack of legal mechanisms for safeguarding Indigenous tangible and/or intangible cultural heritage?
- How does the ongoing influence of colonialism shape legal approaches to cultural property?
- How should the scope of Indigenous cultural property and objects be understood in light of the UNDRIP, particularly with respect to Articles 11, 12 and 31?
- What challenges and opportunities arise from the absence of formal enforcement mechanisms for the rights contained in Articles 11,12 and 31 of the UNDRIP?
We welcome submissions from a wide range of disciplines, including law, anthropology, cultural studies, history, and Indigenous studies. We are particularly interested in hearing from Indigenous scholars, members of Indigenous communities involved in campaigns for repatriation of cultural property, scholars from the Global South, and from emerging and early-career scholars. We also invite academic, creative or reflective pieces from Indigenous community members about their experiences working within and between institutions and their efforts to protect and enforce cultural property rights.
Submissions may take the form of Articles (of 6000-9000 words) and Case Notes or accounts of cultural property and repatriation disputes and successes, whether resolved legally or via political or diplomatic means (2000-6000 words).
How to Submit:
If you would like to contribute to this special edition, please submit an abstract of between 400-500 words to the guest editors via email by 2 December 2024: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Important Dates:
2 December 2022: Proposals/Abstracts submitted
20 December 2022: Guest Editors select abstracts and notify Authors. Guest Editors invite Authors of selected abstracts to prepare for submission of article for peer review
30 April 2025: Completed drafts submitted for review
May-June 2025: Out to review
July 2025: Guest Editors contact Authors with the outcome of review process
Aug-Sept 2025: Authors submit revised articles
Oct-Nov 2025: Final copy-editing and preparation for publication.
Guest Editors:
Dr Kris Wilson is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University, researching the fields of cybersecurity, computer-related crime and Indigenous traditional knowledges in a digital and international context. His work includes projects on international frameworks for Indigenous cultural heritage protection, theorising Indigenous engagement and involvement with international legal frameworks and institutions, and Indigenous data governance. Kris is a descendant of the Arabunna and Dieri Peoples, and, for the duration of his doctoral work at the University of Oxford, Kris was a Charlie Perkins, Roberta Sykes, and Chevening Scholar.
Dr Rhys Aston is a Lecturer in Law at Te Piringa - Faculty of Law, University of Waikato. His research is focused on legal theory, utopian legalities, prefigurative politics, decolonial legal theory, and critical approaches to law and the environment. His current projects include work exploring pathways towards decolonial justice, and analysing the relationship between law, social activism, and prefigurative politics. He completed his PhD in Law at Flinders University, and holds degrees in anthropology and political theory from the University of Adelaide
Dr Unaisi Narawa is of Indigenous Fijian and Solomon Island descent and is a Lecturer in Law and Convenor of Pacific Engagement at Te Piringa Faculty of Law, University of Waikato. She has previously been an academic at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji and has also held positions in Nauru as Senior Government Lawyer (Legislative Drafting) for the Department of Justice and Legislative Counsel for Parliament. Her research interests include Pacific legal systems, legal pluralism, customary law and human rights, Indigenous Peoples and their identity, climate change, and family law.