The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation

Cultural appropriation is a pervasive feature of today′s world. Whether it occurs within a country or across nations, it arises in every facet of a multicultural society. It can take many forms—from incorporating African–American musical styles to assimilating religious practices of indigenous peoples. And because it is usually seen as being inextricably bound with the oppression of minority cultures, the topic itself is often controversial and inspires passionate debates. But is cultural appropriation always morally objectionable? And are there instances where it might also be benign—or even beneficial? The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation undertakes a comprehensive and systematic investigation of the moral and aesthetic questions that arise from the practice of cultural appropriation. With sensitivity and rigorous empirical research, this groundbreaking work brings together a team of leading philosophers and experts in the social sciences to examine the ethics of cultural appropriation in its various guises: the arts and archaeology, museums, genetics, ecological knowledge, religion, and more.

Notes on Contributors ix Preface xii Artist Statement xvii lessLIE 1. Introduction 1 2. Archaeological Finds: Legacies of Appropriation, Modes of Response 11 George P. Nicholas and Alison Wylie 3. The Appropriation of Human Remains: A First Nations Legal and Ethical Perspective 55 James [Sa ke j] Youngblood Henderson 4. The Repatriation of Human Remains 72 Geoffrey Scarre 5. ′The Skin Off Our Backs′: Appropriation of Religion 93 Conrad G. Brunk and James O. Young 6. Genetic Research and Culture: Where Does the Offense Lie? 115 Daryl Pullman and Laura Arbour 7. Appropriation of Traditional Knowledge: Ethics in the Context of Ethnobiology 140 Kelly Bannister and Maui Solomon (Part I) Conrad G. Brunk (Part II) 8. A Broken Record: Subjecting ′Music′ to Cultural Rights 173 Elizabeth Burns Coleman and Rosemary J. Coombe with Fiona MacArailt 9. Objects of Appropriation 211 Andrea N. Walsh and Dominic McIver Lopes 10. Do Subaltern Artifacts Belong in Art Museums? 235 A.W. Eaton and Ivan Gaskell 11. ′Nothing Comes from Nowhere′: Refl ections on Cultural Appropriation as the Representation of Other Cultures 268 James O. Young and Susan Haley Index 290

James O. Young  is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Victoria. He has published more than 40 journal articles on the philosophy of language and the philosophy of art and is the author of  Global Anti–realism  (1995) and  Art and Knowledge  (2001) and  Cultural Appropriation and the Arts  (Wiley–Blackwell, 2008). Conrad G. Brunk is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and former Director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria.  He is the author of numerous articles and texts on ethical issues relating to technology, the environment, law, and professional practice. Dr. Brunk consults regularly for governments and international organizations on environmental and health risk management and technology policy issues.

"There are several characteristics that make this collection of essays an admirable endeavour: the breadth of questions and disciplines covered – music, arts, archaeology, genetics, religion, ethnobiology – in an interdisciplinary dialogue moderated by philosophers; the passionate engagement of the authors with the ethics of appropriation of subaltern cultures by dominant Western cultures; the incisiveness of the debates over each theme discussed (one author debating with another before giving his/her own point of view in the shape of an individual article); the soundness of theoretical arguments and the stunning and provocative examples debated." (Journal of the Royal Astronomical Institute, 2011)