Assistant Professor, Michigan State University
Contributor, Platypus, The CASTAC Blog
About Amanda
Amanda Domingues is an assistant professor of science and society at Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Anthropology. Her research examines how scientists mobilize social justice and ethical principles and practices to engage with marginalized communities in the U.S. and in Latin America. She has worked with Indigenous populations, people with disabilities, and formerly incarcerated individuals working with archaeologists, biologists, and computer scientists. She teaches courses that explore how science and technology intersect with gender, race, class, and politics and policy. Dr. Domingues holds Ph.Ds. in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell University and in Political Science from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. She also has a broad professional background within and beyond academia, having worked for public and private universities, foreign consulates, and private consulting firms. She is also very active in the Latin American STS community, having recently published a chapter in the book Latin American Breakthroughs in STS Theory.
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Contributions to Platypus, The CASTAC Blog
View all of Amanda's posts on Platypus, The CASTAC Blog.
Does Everything Belong Back Home? Rethinking Repatriation in the Brazilian Context
The process of repatriation—or the return of artifacts to their origin communities around the world—has taken center stage globally, drawing intense interest from anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, and museum professionals. It remains as much a domestic (within nations) discussion as an international one. The debate plays out on both scales because there exist at least two opposing views on who owns cultural heritage. One side argues that cultural objects form a national cultural heritage—a view known as cultural nationalism (Merryman 1986). In contrast, those who advocate for a cultural internationalism view these objects as part of a shared human culture that belongs to all humanity. From this international perspective, an artifact’s country of origin or current location does not matter because cultural property belongs to “everyone” (Appiah 2009). Therefore, protecting and preserving it becomes everyone’s interest and responsibility. (more…) (read more...)