1st Edition
Contesting Human Remains in Museum Collections The Crisis of Cultural Authority
By Tiffany Jenkins
Copyright 2011
184 Pages
by
Routledge
184 Pages
by
Routledge
184 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Since the late 1970s human remains in museum collections have been subject to claims and controversies, such as demands for repatriation by indigenous groups who suffered under colonization. These requests have been strongly contested by scientists who research the material and consider it unique evidence.
This book charts the influences at play on the contestation over human remains and... Read more
Introduction 1.Transforming Concerns about Human Remains into an Issue 2. Scientists Contest Repatriation 3.The Crisis of Cultural Authority 4.The Rise and Impact of Pagan Claims-Makers 5. Explaining Why Human Remains Are the Problem 6. Covering Up the Mummies. Concluding Thoughts
Biography
Dr Tiffany Jenkins is arts and society director of the London based think-tank, the Institute of Ideas. She is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and a member of the Working Group on Cultural Property and Heritage Law. She writes and comments for the national media on cultural matters.
'This is an excellent and detailed introduction to an important topic in the museum field today.' – Annette Rein, ICOM News
'Fluent and well-argued' – Minerva
'describes, with thinly disguised dismay, the changes that led the British Museum and Natural History Museum to abandon their opposition to repatriating human remains.' – The Art Newspaper
