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Crimes against cultural heritage in Timbuktu

Crimes against cultural heritage in Timbuktu
Crimes against cultural heritage in Timbuktu
On 3 March 2016, Ahmad al‐Faqi al‐Mahdi sat in a courtroom at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and became the first person to be prosecuted for the destruction of cultural sites as a war crime. In this article, the author argues that it is no coincidence that the first case the ICC has brought to justice involves a UNESCO World Heritage site. She charts the history of the relationship between Mali and UNESCO and the history of Islam in Mali. Through taking a historical perspective, current events can be seen as part of an ongoing ‘conversation’ about the future of the country. The ICC trial also has wider ramifications for the anthropological study of material culture and cultural heritage as it resists a plural understanding of people’s entanglement with sites and objects and demands instead a return to certainty.
1467-8322
15-17
Joy, Charlotte Louise
0fb29802-c853-43eb-b78f-601e49d9f776
Joy, Charlotte Louise
0fb29802-c853-43eb-b78f-601e49d9f776

Joy, Charlotte Louise (2018) Crimes against cultural heritage in Timbuktu. Anthropology Today, 34 (1), 15-17. (doi:10.1111/1467-8322.12404).

Record type: Article

Abstract

On 3 March 2016, Ahmad al‐Faqi al‐Mahdi sat in a courtroom at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and became the first person to be prosecuted for the destruction of cultural sites as a war crime. In this article, the author argues that it is no coincidence that the first case the ICC has brought to justice involves a UNESCO World Heritage site. She charts the history of the relationship between Mali and UNESCO and the history of Islam in Mali. Through taking a historical perspective, current events can be seen as part of an ongoing ‘conversation’ about the future of the country. The ICC trial also has wider ramifications for the anthropological study of material culture and cultural heritage as it resists a plural understanding of people’s entanglement with sites and objects and demands instead a return to certainty.

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Published date: 1 February 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 511440
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/511440
ISSN: 1467-8322
PURE UUID: d535068e-65bd-4b6a-bc73-d049d52dc3bc
ORCID for Charlotte Louise Joy: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4452-5883

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Date deposited: 14 May 2026 16:42
Last modified: 15 May 2026 02:10

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Author: Charlotte Louise Joy ORCID iD

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