Legal Pluralsim

Copyright legislation is often described in relation to a series of abstract legal and economic constructs, without due attention to the ways in which it may be constituted by the persons and artifacts that it legislates over. In this article, I focus in detail on some ways in which concepts of copyright are negotiated in the South Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu. I analyze copyright in relation to the technical, social and conceptual processes of copying, restriction and creativity, respec- tively, in order to draw out some of the diverse social and material processes that are built into the legal category. I draw specifically on my research with Ni-Vanuatu men and women using local resources to earn money through the production of artifacts for the market – an exemplary context for the emergence of discussions about ‘indigenous’ copyright legislation. In describing copyright in one very local context, I emphasize that focusing on the materiality of different property forms can enable us to more sensitively understand the differential constitution of intellectual property rights in an increas- ingly global arena.

a stuDy of informal justice systems: access to justice anD human rights such as measures to tackle child marriage, forced marriage, teenage pregnancy and discontinued schooling which are likely to affect rates of polygamy may produce the most positive results.

The tightening interrelation of cultural property and international security—cultural security—creates a need for the collection and analysis of specialized intelligence. “Cultural intelligence” enables assessments of the tactical and strategic significance of antiquities, fine art, and cultural heritage sites to national and regional security. This paper defines a framework for the collection of cultural intelligence as a fundamental asset in countering threats to cultural security. Looting of antiquities as a tactic in campaigns of cultural cleansing, trafficking in antiquities as a source of funding for insurgents, and targeting of historic structures and religious monuments in political violence represent distinct threats to regional security. A critical initial step in countering the threats includes marshalling appropriate sources of information. Publications that report on the art market and cultural property globally and players in the antiquities trade offer opportunities as sources of cultural intelligence. Ultimately, the development of tactical and strategic cultural intelligence can reveal trafficking networks and assess risks to cultural heritage sites. As a starting point, this paper indentifies viable sources of cultural intelligence. Conflicts in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) provide examples in retrospect, while volatility in Mali presents an opportunity in the context of an emerging security risk. In conclusion, the paper speculates on the applications of cultural intelligence in regional security.

Military engagement of insurgents risks destruction of religious monuments and historic structures, and political and economic instability that follows armed conflict enables looting of antiquities. In combination, threats to cultural structures and movable cultural patrimony compromise cultural security. This paper explores the potential of the art market for open-source intelligence assessments of cultural security. A comparison of the market value of artifacts of different ethnic origins provides a measure of the risk of looting of cultural patrimony by geographic region. Intelligence assessments of the relative desirability of cultural artifacts by region of origin can inform strategic planning to mitigate looting in conflict zones and to alert security services to emerging threats of trafficking in cultural patrimony.

Introduction article to the edited complete compilation of the seminar "Archaeological Intervention on Historical Necropolises. Jewish Cemeteries", held on 15 and 16 January 2009, at the Museu d'Història de Barcelona.
In English, Catalan, and Spanish.