Macedonia: Cultural Right or Cultural Appropriation?

LARRY REIMER

ABSTRACT

The dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, with respect to the use of the name Macedonia and the Vergina Sun symbol, serves to highlight lingering issues surrounding the status of culture in international law. This paper represents, in part, a search for regimes with which to make cultural disputes legally intelligible. Setting aside the fruitless historical debates, the author characterizes Macedonia's position as a claim to cultural identity in international law and evaluates this claim within the framework of self-determination, human rights, and peoples' rights. Conversely, Greece's position is characterized as a claim of cultural protection, and is considered under the guise of cultural property law, international intellectual property law and cultural "appropriation," as voiced by indigenous populations. In the end, the Macedonian argument appears almost intuitive, while Greece's claim of a proprietary-type interest in the name and symbol seems to be beyond the scope of both international law and workable international policy.

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Citation: (1995) 53(2) U.T. Fac. L. Rev. 359.
Copyright © 1995. University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review.
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