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16 Indonesian J. Int'l L. 1 (2018-2019)

handle is hein.journals/indjil16 and id is 1 raw text is: 

Indonesian Journal of International Law (2018), Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 1 - 27
http://dx.doi.org/10.17304/ijil.vol16.1.741



       MOVING CULTURES: ENGAGING REFUGEE AND
     MIGRANT CULTURAL RIGHTS IN INTERNATIONAL

                               HERITAGE LAW


                               Lucas Lixinski *

                         • University of New South Wales, Australia
                         Correspondence: 1.lixinskigunsw.edu.au


                                       Abstract

    In thinking about the rise of the Anthropocene, an important facet of this looming new era
    remains under-explored: namely, how cultural identity, and its tangible and intangible markers,
    are to be renegotiated and protected. Notwithstanding that the origins of international heritage
    law lie in protecting heritage in times of crisis (wartime and natural or man-made disasters),
    regimes under UNESCO for safeguarding cultural heritage in international law are ill-prepared
    for the challenges of the Anthropocene. A particular question that needs to be considered is the
    protection in international law of cultural heritage and identity when communities are displaced
    from their homes. Because international cultural heritage law is connected to state territoriality,
    states have the ultimate authorizing power over the meanings and uses of cultural heritage. In
    the past, this power has at times been used to the detriment of minority groups contesting the
    majoritarian state. But how might this power play out in a context where communities are forced
    to move? What, if anything, can international heritage law do to ensure that these populations,
    who have already lost their homes and livelihoods, can maintain their cultural identity through
    the protection of their heritage? I argue that international law ' separation between the cultural
    and biological facets of human existence presents a major obstacle to safeguarding the cultures
    of migrant and refugee groups, ultimately frustrating the very objectives that this separation was
    meant to achieve, namely, the protection ofthese populations. Only by reintegrating biology and
    culture can international law create the means for reimagining civilization in the Anthropocene.
    Keywords: cultural heritage, Anthropocene, refugees, migrants, UNESCO, intangible cultural
    heritage, territoriality


         Submitted: 24 July 2018 1 Revised: 22 September2018 I Accepted: 5 October2018



I. INTRODUCTION

    The rise of the Anthropocene draws increasing attention in the social

sciences more generally. And, yet, much of the concern relates to the
immediate impact on human livelihoods, comprising access to clean
water, food, sanitation, and disappearing territory. Those questions are
indeed most pressing and urgent, but in focusing on them, we also create

a blind spot that prevents us from thinking beyond that immediacy. More

specifically, when we think about our responses to the Anthropocene,
much of our focus seems to be somewhat dystopian, told in a language

of crisis in which our social and cultural systems will collapse, and a


     Copyright © 2018 -Lucas Lixinski, Published by Lembaga Pengkajian Hukum Internasional

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