Justice Beyond the Present: Restitution and the Temporalization of Historical Responsibility 1960–1985
This project examines the early debates on restitution of African cultural objects between 1960 and 1985 in relation to parallel debates on the statute of limitations for Nazi crimes in France, West Germany, and international organizations like the UN. The study explores how the legal principle of imprescriptibility—the idea that some crimes have no expiration date—shaped not only discussions on the retroactive prosecution of Nazi perpetrators but also influenced ideas of the return of cultural artifacts looted during colonialism.
By comparing restitution debates in the UN with debates in European states dealing with decolonial processes parallel with the crimes of the Nazi regime, the project reveals previously unexplored connections between the histories of Nazism and colonialism, providing new insights into how modern justice debates emerged. Using discourse analysis on UN archival records, government and institutional reports and media, the project analyzes how temporal arguments created new ways to address historical wrongs, by uncovering how perceptions of time— encompassing ideas of the boundaries between past, present and future—influenced legal and ethical understandings of justice and responsibility. The project highlights how early, and by research overlooked, restitution claims, though unsuccessful at the time, were part of shaping the expansive time frames we use to discuss historical accountability and intergenerational justice today.
By comparing restitution debates in the UN with debates in European states dealing with decolonial processes parallel with the crimes of the Nazi regime, the project reveals previously unexplored connections between the histories of Nazism and colonialism, providing new insights into how modern justice debates emerged. Using discourse analysis on UN archival records, government and institutional reports and media, the project analyzes how temporal arguments created new ways to address historical wrongs, by uncovering how perceptions of time— encompassing ideas of the boundaries between past, present and future—influenced legal and ethical understandings of justice and responsibility. The project highlights how early, and by research overlooked, restitution claims, though unsuccessful at the time, were part of shaping the expansive time frames we use to discuss historical accountability and intergenerational justice today.