A 'safe space' to debate colonial legacy? The University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the campaign to return a looted Benin altarpiece to Nigeria

In February 2016, students at the University of Cambridge voted unanimously to support the repatriation to Nigeria of a bronze cockerel looted during the violent British expedition into Benin City in 1897. Rather than initiating a restitution process, however, the college response saw the cockerel, known as Okukor, temporarily relocated to the University’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. This article outlines the discussions that took place during this process, exploring how the Museum was positioned as a safe space in which uncomfortable colonial legacies, including institutionalized racism and rights over cultural patrimony, could be debated. We explore how a stated commitment to post-colonial dialogue ultimately worked to circumvent a call for post-colonial action. Drawing on Stoler’s and Edwards’ discussions of colonial aphasia, this article argues that museums of anthropology risk enabling such circumvention despite, and perhaps as a result of, a commitment to confronting their own institutional colonial legacies

Radical “Citizens of the World,” 1790–95: The Early Career of Henry Redhead Yorke

This article takes a new look at British radicalism in the 1790s and explores it within broad geographical and cultural frameworks and through the early career of Henry Redhead Yorke, a West Indian Creole who became a radical in England but frequently recanted his politics. It views radicalism within the Atlantic World and provides a broader interpretation of the excluded majority than as an English working class. It examines the radical “citizens of the world” and sheds new light on the apparent conflict within English radicalism between universalist and constitutionalist ideologies. Politicization and identity are the key themes here examined within micro- and macro-histories

The dynamics of Methodism in Sierra Leone 1860-1911 Western European influence and culture in church development

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Model Law on Access to Information for Africa and other regional instruments: Soft law and human rights in Africa

The adoption in 2013 of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is an important landmark in the increasing elaboration of human rights-related soft law standards in Africa. Although non-binding, the Model Law significantly influenced the access to information landscape on the continent. Since the adoption of the Model Law, the Commission adopted several General Comments. The AU similarly adopted Model Laws such as the African Union Model Law on Internally Displaced Persons in Addressing Internal Displacement in Africa. This collection of essays inquires into the role and impact of soft law standards within the African human rights system and the AU generally. It assesses the extent to which these standards induced compliance, and identifies factors that contribute to generating such compliance. This book is a collection of papers presented at a conference organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, with the financial support of the government of Norway, through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pretoria. Following the conference, the papers were reviewed and reworked

The right to the return of African cultural heritage : a human rights perspective

This research focuses on how many African cultural objects found their way to Western museums or private collections. Therefore the author examines to what extent African states have succeeded in their quest for the return of their cultural objects and what the inadequacies in the current international legal regime for the return of cultural objects are. Can the return of African cultural objects properly be identified as a human right issue and will such identification present better chances for their return? Also look at how existing international human rights mechanisms are applied in the quest for the return of African cultural objects. Focuses on the specific African countries of Nigeria and Ethiopia in respect of their efforts towards the return of their tangible and moveable cultural heritage.Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007.A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Andreas Eshete of the Faculty of Law, University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.http://www.chr.up.ac.za/Centre for Human RightsLL