Mainstreaming the Discourse on Restitution and Repatriation within African History, Heritage Studies and Political Science

Abstract

The recent upsurge of interest in restitution and repatriation debates by practitionersand scholars might offer appropriate chances for true interdisciplinary research.Not only should historical, anthropological and legal studies take part in such aconversation, but also, political science, archaeology and heritage studies. Resolutelyand systematically giving voice to both African stakeholders and African researchersis an imperative. In this introduction, the fresh start of a rich debate is traced, providingthe framework for processing and understanding current debates and practices ofrestitution. Essential and neglected questions are formulated. Detected voids call forthe mainstreaming of a new discourse on restitution and repatriation to play a pivotalrole in the epistemology of these allied disciplines and training