A Conference of the Interdisciplinary DFG Research Group 772, June 15-17, 2011
University Conference Center, Göttingen
Cultural property is a concept fraught with practical as well as political and ideological difficulties. It is a matter of intense debate who should benefit from cultural property, either individually or collectively, and whether such benefit is best ensured by bringing it to market, in some form, or rather by keeping it out.
For three years, the Göttingen interdisciplinary research group “The Constitution of Cultural Property” has carried out work in a number of arenas where the parameters of cultural property are negotiated. We examined discussions on cultural property and – strongly linked to property questions – cultural heritage as framed within international organizations such as WIPO and UNESCO as well as on the ground in various locale settings, carried out analyses of international conventions as well as extant realms of legal recommendations and prescriptions for cultural property, and undertook economic assessments and forecasts for the realm of cultural property. The combination of disciplines cooperating within our group is novel, and thus we also spent considerable effort exploring the workings of interdisciplinarity within the parameters set by our undertaking.
As we make the transition into the second research phase, we will present findings as well as a number of policy suggestions for discussion with our audience. The conference will present conclusions drawn from ethnographic research in South East Asia and Europe as well as in international organizations, from law and economics and from international law. The event will be grouped into the following sections.
- Negotiating Cultural Property in International Arenas – The Case of WIPO’s IGC and its Implications (communicative practices on international terrain; economic interests and the economics of negotiating; assets and drawbacks of legal fragmentation; suggested directions for future scholarship and international practice).
- Evaluating Systems for Regulating Cultural Property (sui generis legislation policy recommendations; geographic indications policy recommendations).
- The UNESCO Heritage Regime and Processes of Cultural Propertization (tangible and intangible heritagization and its repercussions in case studies from Sulawesi, Cambodia, as well as Germany; the interface of local, regional, national and indigenous agency and international law; suggested recommendations).
- Interdisciplinary conflicts and common ground (progress report from a research team combining hermeneutic and normative disciplines).
A full program will be made available in early May 2011.