Restitutions of Cultural Property: The Transnational Production of Frames of Reference and Norms of Ownership for Cultural Property

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The restitution of cultural property draws on a series of legal and moral considerations that underpin the legitimacy of the ownership of cultural property. Restitution is the act of restoring something to its legitimate owner(s), but the legitimacy of the latter is based on institutional, legal, and moral principles whose purpose and interpretations may vary over time. This article looks at the emergence since the late 1970s of new frames of reference in the context of relations between transnational actors. These frames of reference all question the legitimacy of the ownership of cultural property acquired during the period of European colonization, from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries through to the 1960s. Here I identify and explain three frames of reference for the restitution of cultural property: authenticity, restitution as reparation, and human and spiritual rights.