The plural policing of cultural heritage in Rapa Nui, Chile, and Argentina

• In Event: Innovative Approaches to Heritage Crime & Justice

Abstract

The policing of art and heritage crimes is highly political and often singularly protected by national heritage laws taking a universalist approach (“national heritage”), in the process marginalising heritage expressions of indigenous cultures. Based on 30+ interviews with law enforcement agencies, art dealers, policy makers and indigenous community initiatives in Chile, Rapa Nui, and Argentina, this presentation contextualises the daily routines and decision-making processes of different stakeholders tasked with the policing of cultural heritage and will discuss issues related to the policing of “difficult” heritage and how various policing actors negotiate tensions between opposing interpretations of the term ‘heritage’.

Author

• Naomi Oosterman, Erasmus University Rotterdam