Handbook

This course examines the relationships between international law, heritage and identity. It critically examines intersections of domestic and international law, the international/global arena, and the politics of cultural formation and identity. What will be stressed is that these relationships are constitutive and highly politicized. An underlying theme will be that law does not operate in a contextual vacuum, and cultural meanings and values play a significant role in shaping the positive and negative dimensions of international law and its uses as a vocabulary of emancipation as it impacts individuals and communities in localized settings. At the same time, how does culture, heritage and cultural identity get defined in the context of international law, particularly in connection to the production, mobilization and implementation of regimes for the protection and safeguarding of heritage, and their impact on issues such as human rights and development practices? Drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives and recent scholarship in cultural studies, anthropology and sociology, the class will engage in contemporary debates informing the cultural dimensions of the international across different spaces of contestation.