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SCIENCE, PROPERTY, AND KINSHIP IN REPATRIATION DEBATES
Author(s) -
Kirsch Stuart
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
museum anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.197
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1548-1379
pISSN - 0892-8339
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1379.2011.01110.x
Subject(s) - repatriation , kinship , politics , negotiation , property (philosophy) , sociology , perspective (graphical) , domain (mathematical analysis) , political science , epistemology , anthropology , social science , law , computer science , philosophy , mathematics , mathematical analysis , artificial intelligence
A striking feature of debates concerning the disposition of N ative A merican human remains is their invocation of the conventional domains of science, property, and kinship. Strong political claims about repatriation tend to assert the primacy of one domain over the others. Yet in contemporary North A merican social contexts, these domains have heterarchical relations in which no single perspective dominates, rather than hierarchical relations organized by a fixed ranking system. Resolving disputes in heterarchical systems requires negotiation across domains rather than privileging one domain. This comment examines how the relationships between these domains influence debates on repatriation. It also sheds light on how A mericans make political claims.