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Archives exert power, they build narratives, and they influence the destinies of individuals and Peoples. While archival theorists and practitioners have been attuned to the problems of shared, displaced and disputed archives, the issue has been long neglected by international lawyers. In the last four decades, there has been very limited exploration of international law and archives, and none that has focused on the Arctic. This anthology addresses a major gap in the literature and provides the intellectual foundation for further progress on the complex legal, diplomatic, cultural, and technical problems attending displaced archives and their repatriation.
Contributors are:Rachael Lorna Johnstone, James Lowry, Romain Chuffart, Melis Yuksel, Njörður Sigurðsson, Bjarni Már Magnússon, Rebecca Bourgeois, William T D Wadsworth, Thomas D Andrews, Apostolos Tsiouvalas and Giorgio Baruchello.
Contributors are:Rachael Lorna Johnstone, James Lowry, Romain Chuffart, Melis Yuksel, Njörður Sigurðsson, Bjarni Már Magnússon, Rebecca Bourgeois, William T D Wadsworth, Thomas D Andrews, Apostolos Tsiouvalas and Giorgio Baruchello.
Price: $179.00
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill | Nijhoff
Series: Studies in Polar Law
Publication Date:
20 August 2026
ISBN: 9789004758070
Format: Hardcover
"This book is a crucial and much-needed interdisciplinary study focusing on the Arctic that fills a significant gap in scholarship. It compellingly links the aim of decolonizing Arctic archives to complex challenges in international law, including principles of self-determination, human rights, and Indigenous rights. The volume’s blend of theoretical perspectives and detailed case studies makes it an essential resource for academics, archivists, and practitioners working across fields like Indigenous Studies, Polar Law, and Critical Archival Studies."
- Professor Christina Allard, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden
"International law has established norms for how people, territory and cultural heritage, including archives, are recognized and treated in international contexts and yet can itself be viewed as a colonial project. This collection of essays focused on legal and archival sovereignty in the Arctic region is a unique and vitally needed extension to the body of recent scholarship on displaced archives and self-determination in the context of plural legal systems and epistemologies. It is particularly timely as the Arctic increasingly becomes a strategic focus of global powers, and changing climate engenders further human and cultural displacement, raising new concerns and contestations for the peoples and archives of the region."
- Professor Anne J. Gilliland, University of California, Los Angeles, US
"Indigenous communities were not the sole victims of colonial expansion. Across time, the colonial expansion of Western empires, beginning in the late 15th century, unfolded—and over time, we have become increasingly aware of its devastating consequences. Prejudiced judgment, notions of superiority, and fear of those with different worldviews and ways of life set humanity on a path toward unsustainable futures—culturally, socially, and ecologically—by undermining Indigenous ways of life rooted in a reciprocal relationship with nature, and undervaluing Indigenous epistemologies. We failed to recognize that Indigenous knowledge systems, which thrived for millennia, have invaluable contributions to the collective corpus of human knowledge. This failure to acknowledge Indigenous contributions—past and present—has led to a siloing of knowledge systems. Western science and Western worldviews were privileged to the detriment of Indigenous epistemologies, leaving humanity poorer for it.
This book powerfully examines international law and archival studies—namely, how these practices have sustained privileged worldviews, promoting the dominance and prosperity of Western powers at the expense of suppressing, stifling, and obstructing the growth of Indigenous cultures and epistemologies. At its heart is the recognition of injustice, the imperative to make right, and the courage to forge pathways to peace. It broadens the landscape of academia, offering a path for international law and archival studies to evolve toward epistemic modernization that serves all humanity. While we cannot undo colonialism’s harm, self-determination, in its broadest sense, is a lifelong journey—one that begins with individual empowerment but unfolds into collective consciousness. It is not achieved overnight by a change in political status; rather, it is a continuous, collaborative process of growth, recognition, and an evolving, expansive community identity."
- Melissa Taitano, Pairourou Traditional Navigator, Canoe Carver, Artist, Assistant Professor, University of Guam
- Professor Christina Allard, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden
"International law has established norms for how people, territory and cultural heritage, including archives, are recognized and treated in international contexts and yet can itself be viewed as a colonial project. This collection of essays focused on legal and archival sovereignty in the Arctic region is a unique and vitally needed extension to the body of recent scholarship on displaced archives and self-determination in the context of plural legal systems and epistemologies. It is particularly timely as the Arctic increasingly becomes a strategic focus of global powers, and changing climate engenders further human and cultural displacement, raising new concerns and contestations for the peoples and archives of the region."
- Professor Anne J. Gilliland, University of California, Los Angeles, US
"Indigenous communities were not the sole victims of colonial expansion. Across time, the colonial expansion of Western empires, beginning in the late 15th century, unfolded—and over time, we have become increasingly aware of its devastating consequences. Prejudiced judgment, notions of superiority, and fear of those with different worldviews and ways of life set humanity on a path toward unsustainable futures—culturally, socially, and ecologically—by undermining Indigenous ways of life rooted in a reciprocal relationship with nature, and undervaluing Indigenous epistemologies. We failed to recognize that Indigenous knowledge systems, which thrived for millennia, have invaluable contributions to the collective corpus of human knowledge. This failure to acknowledge Indigenous contributions—past and present—has led to a siloing of knowledge systems. Western science and Western worldviews were privileged to the detriment of Indigenous epistemologies, leaving humanity poorer for it.
This book powerfully examines international law and archival studies—namely, how these practices have sustained privileged worldviews, promoting the dominance and prosperity of Western powers at the expense of suppressing, stifling, and obstructing the growth of Indigenous cultures and epistemologies. At its heart is the recognition of injustice, the imperative to make right, and the courage to forge pathways to peace. It broadens the landscape of academia, offering a path for international law and archival studies to evolve toward epistemic modernization that serves all humanity. While we cannot undo colonialism’s harm, self-determination, in its broadest sense, is a lifelong journey—one that begins with individual empowerment but unfolds into collective consciousness. It is not achieved overnight by a change in political status; rather, it is a continuous, collaborative process of growth, recognition, and an evolving, expansive community identity."
- Melissa Taitano, Pairourou Traditional Navigator, Canoe Carver, Artist, Assistant Professor, University of Guam
Rachael Lorna Johnstone is Professor at the University of Akureyri, Iceland and Adjunct Professor at Ilisimatusarfik, the University of Greenland. She is co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Polar Law (2023) and Regulation of Extractive Industries in the Arctic (2020) and co-author of Arctic Governance in a Changing World (2019).
James Lowry is Professor at Queens College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is the Ellen Libretto and Adam Conrad Endowed Chair in Information Studies and editor of Disputed Archival Heritage (2022) and Displaced Archives (2017).
James Lowry is Professor at Queens College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is the Ellen Libretto and Adam Conrad Endowed Chair in Information Studies and editor of Disputed Archival Heritage (2022) and Displaced Archives (2017).