Cultuurmanagement

Cultural heritage policies are no longer the sole monopoly of sovereign
states. Therefore, this article investigates the need for a European civil society in the field
of cultural heritage according to the analysis of policy documents and published literature.
The article finds that European policies in the field of cultural heritage before 1990 were
oriented towards the formation of a common European identity. In the 1990s a paradigm
shift emerged: cultural heritage now reflects the cultural diversity of the common European
heritage or “unity in diversity.” Simultaneously, the value of heritage for society and the need
to engage civil society in maintaining, promoting, and safeguarding cultural heritage has
received more emphasis. This new approach is reflected in the concept of “heritage community,”
as articulated in the 2005 Faro Convention of the Council of Europe. Moreover, the
European Community promulgated its desire to involve civil society more closely into its
activities in the field of culture with its 2007 “A European Agenda for Culture” (European
Union 2007). Although a European civil society in the field of cultural heritage is still in its
infancy, the road to its establishment has been paved.

"Since armed conflicts are based increasingly on politics of identity, the protection of cultural
property is likely to become continuously more important during peace operations.
The extent to which peace operations are obligated to protect cultural property is,
however, not always clear. This article explains why and to what extent peace operations
ought to be required to protect cultural property. It first explores the way that the protection
of cultural property can contribute to the overall aim of an operation. Second, the
extent, from a legal standpoint, to which peace operations must respect cultural property
is elaborated – and whether peace operations must refrain from damaging cultural
property. Finally, the article analyses whether peace forces are obligated by international
law to actively protect cultural property. Thus, whether they are responsible for the
protection of cultural property from the depredations of others is questioned. The study
contends that, on the one hand, the protection of cultural property is needed because it
contributes to the overall aim of a peace mission, but that, on the other hand, a coherent
legal framework is lacking."

De bombardementen op Sarajevo, Dubrovnik en de brug van Mostar en de plunderingen in het Nationaal Museum van Bagdad staan in ons collectieve geheugen gegrift. Ze zijn nochtans maar het topje van de ijsberg: verwoestingen en plunderingen van culturele goederen zijn de laatste decennia gemeengoed geworden. De vraag is wat de internationale gemeenschap kan doen om dit fenomeen een halt toe te roepen.

"During armed conflict, cultural property can be intentionally destroyed or
looted. Despite the development of many preventive measures in recent
decades, this phenomenon has not observably decreased. The literature on
cultural property destruction during armed conflict fails to interpret this
trend within a broader theoretical framework. Therefore, this article links the
empirical knowledge on destruction of cultural property to contemporary
theories of war and nationalism. This is achieved through an analysis of
documents and literature. Our main conclusion is that the identity-bound
character of (or role of nationalism in) contemporary wars is linked to an
increased incidence of cultural property destruction. Moreover, factors such
as illicit war economies, the prevalence of contemporary wars in weak or failed
states, and the multiplicity of actors engaged, contribute to the incidence of
intentional cultural property destruction and looting. These insights can contribute
to an improved understanding of the phenomenon and, consequently,
to an enhanced cultural property destruction prevention strategy.
keywords cultural property, armed conflict, nationalism, identity politics,
intentional destruction, looting
During armed conflict, cultural property is under serious threa"