Science, objectivity, and academic freedom in the twenty-first century. Issue 2 (May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Joyce, Rosemary A.
• Is Part Of: International journal of cultural property. Volume 28:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 193
• Page End: 199
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Subjects: academic freedom -- objectivity -- repatriation -- ethics -- human subjects; Cultural property -- Protection -- Periodicals; Cultural property -- Protection -- Law and legislation -- Periodicals; Cultural property -- Protection (International law) -- Periodicals; Cultural policy -- Periodicals; 341.7677
• DOI: 10.1017/S0940739121000230
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0940-7391

Abstract

Abstract: The publication of a book in 2020 that argues against repatriation, on the grounds that it is incompatible with the necessary objectivity required for the production of scientific knowledge, raises issues that most scholars consider long settled. Rather than engage in a detailed review, this commentary revisits the reasons why claims of contributing to universal knowledge are insufficient to justify exploitation of the physical remains, and cultural property, of people who object to specific lines of research and reminds readers that academic freedom is a mitigated freedom that is rooted in responsibilities and norms agreed on within disciplines, all of which today accept repatriation as part of the necessary redress of legacies of exploitation.