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A Case Study of Academic Facilitation of the Global Illicit Trade in Cultural Objects: Mary Slusser in Nepal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2023

Emiline Smith Open the ORCID record for Emiline Smith [Opens in a new window]  and
Erin L. Thompson Open the ORCID record for Erin L. Thompson [Opens in a new window]
Emiline Smith*
Affiliation:
Lecturer in Criminology, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Erin L. Thompson
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, United States
*
Corresponding author: Emiline Smith; Email: Emiline.Smith@glasgow.ac.uk
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Abstract

In this article, we consider the role that academics play in the global illicit trade in cultural objects. Academics connect sources to buyers and influence market values by publishing looted and stolen cultural objects (passive facilitation) and by collaborating with market players, including by collecting artifacts themselves (active facilitation). Their actions shape market desire, changing what is targeted for looting, theft, and illicit trading across borders. However, this crucial facilitative role often goes unnoticed or unaddressed in scholarship on collecting, white collar crime, and the illicit market in cultural objects. This article explores the importance of academic facilitation through a case study of the career of Mary Slusser, a renowned American scholar of Nepali art and art history.

Keywords

Illicit antiquitiesacademic facilitationantiquities tradeNepalAsian art
Type
Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , February 2023 , pp. 22 - 41
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International Cultural Property Society

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