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 practitioners
and scholars might offer appropriate chances for true interdisciplinary research.
Not only should historical, anthropological and legal studies take part in such a
conversation, but also, political science, archaeology and heritage studies. Resolutely
and systematically giving voice to both African stakeholders and African researchers
is an imperative. In this introduction, the fresh start of a rich debate is traced, providing
the framework for processing and understanding current debates and practices of
restitution. Essential and neglected questions are formulated. Detected voids call for
the mainstreaming of a new discourse on restitution and repatriation to play a pivotal
role in the epistemology of these allied disciplines and training