ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book makes frontier knowledge accessible thanks to a mix of theory and practice with specific attention to the questions that are relevant for experts and members of the legal and para-legal professions in the process of resolving conflicts and assisting with applications for international protection. It retraces the genesis of cultural expertise as an umbrella concept and its ideological engagement with the process of decolonisation and ethics, both of which can be seen as components of the specific awareness that requires experts to examine their own position in court. The book explores the scope of cultural expertise regarding crucial questions that have featured in debates around law and culture since the 20th century: definitions of race, sexuality and the interpretation of social practices that have been considered to be contrary to human rights, such as FGM/C.
