The Preservation of Art and Culture in Times of War
Claire Finkelstein (ed.) et al.
Published:
2022
Online ISBN:
9780197610596
Print ISBN:
9780197610565
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The Preservation of Art and Culture in Times of War
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Duncan MacIntosh
Pages
97–128
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Published:
September 2022
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MacIntosh, Duncan, 'Weaponizing Culture: A Limited Defense of the Destruction of Cultural Heritage in War', in Claire Finkelstein, Derek Gillman, and Frederik Rosén (eds), The Preservation of Art and Culture in Times of War, Ethics, National Security, and the Rule of Law (
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Abstract
It is widely thought that stealing, trading, and destroying cultural artifacts in times of war are inherently immoral actions, and that it is right that they be treated as war crimes, which, indeed, they currently are. But oppressive cultures have their heritage and cultural artifacts too, in the form of monuments, sites of worship, and so on. For the oppressed, these things may be awful reminders of their subordination, and may even perpetuate it. This chapter suggests that, since cultural objects can be both tools and symbols of unjust oppression, their theft and destruction ought to be seen as appropriate when this would be a means of overcoming oppression. Despite current law, in these instances, it would be morally inappropriate to count such acts as war crimes. Furthermore, it is bizarre that theft and destruction of cultural property are counted as war crimes when soldiers killing each other is not (due to combatant immunity). Surely killing is worse than property destruction and theft. It is therefore argued that, where possible, it would be better for conflicts to be fought using the latter methods. Finally, the chapter responds to many objections to using theft and destruction of cultural property as a method of warfare. To the objection that such property has timeless, transcultural, aesthetic, historical, and scientific value, it is replied that justice is a more important value; and to the objection that these practices amount to cultural genocide, it is replied that unjust cultures have no right to exist unmodified.
Keywords: oppression, hegemony, military proportionality, destruction of artifacts, combatant immunity, cultural genocide, transcultural value, trans-political value, war crimes
Subject
Legal System and Practice
Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online
Duncan MacIntosh, Weaponizing Culture In: The Preservation of Art and Culture in Times of War. Edited by: Claire Finkelstein, Derek Gillman, and Frederik Rosén, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2022. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197610565.003.0005
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