The Return of Cultural Heritage to Latin America: Nationalism, Policy, and Politics in Colombia, Mexico, and Peru

Description

The Return of Cultural Heritage to Latin America takes a new approach to the question of returns and restitutions. It is the first publication to look at the domestic politics of claiming countries in order to understand who supports the claims and why. Drawing on analysis of articles published in national newspapers and interviews with individuals involved in return claims, the book demonstrates that such claims are inherently political. Focusing on Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, the book analyses how return claims contribute to the strengthening of state-sponsored discourses on the nation; the policy formation process that leads to the formulation of return claims; and who the main actors of the claims are, including civil society individuals, experts, state authorities, and Indigenous communities. The book proposes explanations for why Latin American countries are interested in specific objects held in Western museums and why these claims have come to light over the past three decades. The Return of Cultural Heritage to Latin America argues that return claims ought to be the object of public debate, allowing contemporary societies to address the legacy of colonialism. The book will be essential reading for scholars and students engaged in the study of museums and heritage, political science, history, anthropology, cultural policy and Latin America. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents List of figures and tables Acknowledgments Acronyms Archives consulted for this research Introduction: The international debate on returns and restitutions What are “return” claims? Debating the ownership of cultural heritage objects Beyond the nationalist vs. internationalist debate Bringing the politics back in Research process and methodology Plan of the book 1. Return claims from Peru, Mexico, and Colombia Peru – The Machu Picchu collection from Yale University Peru – Paracas textiles from the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg Mexico – Penacho de Moctezuma in the Weltmuseum of Vienna Mexico – Teotihuacan murals from San Francisco’s De Young Museum Colombia – The Quimbaya collection from the Museum of America in Madrid Colombia – San Agustín statues from the Ethnological Museum in Berlin What can we learn from case studies from three Latin American countries? 2. Return claims, instruments of the construction of national discourses Cultural heritage in the construction of the nation in Latin America Narratives of the nation and return claims: common grounds Nationalism, centralism, and regionalism Why have return claims appeared since the late twentieth century? Conclusion 3. The expansion of the cultural state Cultural policy: the path to return claims Tourism and the commodification of heritage Foreign policy: balancing diverging interests Conclusion 4. Agency and politics in return claims: Who claims and whose claim? Civil society actors at the birth of the claim The experts and the “authorized heritage discourse” The claimant state: a unified actor? The absent parent in the family picture: Indigenous communities and return claims Conclusion 5. The role of international actors in return claims and their resolution The international environment The role of the holding institution Supporters of return claims in the country of the holding institution What have the signed agreements achieved? Conclusion Conclusion Politics matter Why do return claims happen now? Predicting the outcome of a return claim To put an end to the debate between internationalists and nationalists The future of return claims References Index