In June 2008, researchers at the Universities of Göttingen and Hamburg began an interdisciplinary project on cultural property supported by funds from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The research team is composed of scholars in cultural anthropology/european ethnology, economics, ethnology, commercial and international law. These six linked projects are devoted to the question of how cultural property is constituted, focusing on actors, discourses, contexts and rules.
This blog offers space for ongoing thoughts and exchange as well as for input from interested members of the community of cultural property and cultural property rights researchers.
The project webpage can be accessed at http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/86656.html and informs in detail about the plan of research.
A first series of post – as listed below – is designed to give an overview of the research project, provide reports from the fieldwork as well as allow for an insight into the interdisciplinary workings of the research group.
- Regina Bendix, Institute for Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology:
The Göttingen Research Group on Cultural Property
“How can culture be property? Is not culture a birthright of every human being? That might be an initial response when one hears about…” - Kilian Bizer, Chair of Economic Policy and SME Research:
Why WIPO? – Minimal Moves and Sudden Changes in the Making of Cultural Property Rights
“Imagine delegates of more or less 180 countries assembling in one hall, ceremoniously beginning a session for an entire week. All of them…” - Lena Sinn, Institute for International Law and European Law:
The WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC – GRTKF)
“The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) provides a forum for international policy debate and development of legal mechanisms and practical tools concerning…” - Stefan Groth, Institute for Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology:
WIPO’s IGC on GRTKF – An Anthropological Perspective
”Anthropology has long since been concerned with economic and political processes of the valorization of culture. Be it…“ - Matthias Lankau, Chair of Economic Policy and SME Research
The WIPO Field Research from the Economic Perspective
“In October 2008 various researchers of our interdisciplinary research group on cultural property went to Geneva in order to observe international negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organisation…” - Johannes Müske, Institute for Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology, University of Hamburg
Focus: Interdisciplinarity in Research Groups
“Our research group brings together five disciplines and subdisciplines. Even in the genesis of our research application, group members gained deepening awareness of…” - Arnika Peselmann, Institute for Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology
Disciplinary Methods and Interdisciplinary Collaboration. Or: What is a “participant observation”? And who faces a “regulatory choice problem”?
“The interdisciplinary and multisited approach of the Göttingen Research Group on Cultural Property (GRGCP) allows for the interdependence of local, regional…”