ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that a responsibility to protect cultural heritage is not merely a matter of national and international legal commitment. It examines cultural heritage through the prism of some forms of justice prevalent in cultural heritage practice and literature. The chapter considers how a conception of justice rooted in recognition both grounds a defense of cultural heritage in ways that acknowledge its distinctive value independent of the rights-bearing humans who create, practice, and enjoy it. It also considers how a conception of justice rooted in recognition both grounds a defense of cultural heritage in ways that acknowledge its distinctive value independent of the rights-bearing humans who create, practice, and enjoy it. A human rights frame is inadequate to capture what is really at stake in the destruction of cultural heritage: not merely the loss of beautiful objects and practices but a record of human achievement, creativity, and history.
