Contested Cultural Heritage. Towards the Emergence of an International Duty of Transmission to Future Generations?

The attacks against the Confederate memorials that occurred during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 show how the relationship between cultural heritage, sustainable development and human rights is controversial. Mainly overlooked by international law, the discourse over the fate of “contested” heritage has traditionally been left to the appreciation of States, including its demolition. Against such a scenario, a trend towards the worldwide securization of “contested” heritage might emerge from the acknowledgment of culture as the “fourth pillar” of sustainability. This, in virtue of its key role in human development, and regardless of its possible connection to an avowed past. In this view, in the aim of finding a feasible alternative to irreversible destruction of cultural heritage, States are increasingly opting for the “re-contextualization” of “contested” monuments. Aiming at detaching them from their controversial meaning, such approach seeks to reconcile ‘Sites of Memory’ with concerned societies. This, in the name of the importance of worldwide cultural heritage for human development and future generations, and in the respect of the human right to culture and freedom of expression.