Legalized Identities

Lucas Lixinski is Associate Professor at Faculty of Law, UNSW Sydney. He is a leading researcher in the areas of international cultural heritage law and international human rights law, having authored over 100 publications in those fields. He is Vice President of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies and Rapporteur of the International Law Association Committee on Participation in Global Cultural Heritage Governance.

• 1. Introduction; 2. Identity, Memory, and Transitional Justice; 3. Conservation and Reinvention: Remaking Symbols; 4. Erasing or Replacing Symbols; 5. Creating New Symbols; 6. Cultural Heritage as Pragmatism; 7. Conclusions.

'Bold, imaginative and presented with the author's usual flair and writing skill, this work takes the topic on addressing difficult pasts in transition beyond the strictures of traditional legal mechanisms of transitional justice (TJ) and provides a nuanced and engaging analysis of expansive and creative uses of heritage law as a conduit for the fulfilment of TJ goals. Aside from the intellectual rigor and the clear flow of the arguments, the interdisciplinary approach is the book's strongest suit and it has certainly allowed for a creative and original engagement with the topic. Given the ever-expanding scope and, at the same time, increased specialization of broadly comprehended heritage studies, it is rare for a legal scholar to engage across these specialized fields with such depth and dedication.' Berenika Drazewska, International Law Agendas Brazil Symposium