Unraveling the cordata: Just how organized is the international traffic in cultural objects?

Abstract

While there is some compelling evidence that certain elements of the traffic in illicit antiquities are organized, it is less clear how well this traffic fits common conceptions of organized crime. Clear indications of organization are present, certainly, in such varied examples as the Cordata found in Italy, the pattern of movement of the goods involved in the Salisbury Hoard, and in our case studies from SE Asia. While it is widely recognized that there are ambiguities and difficulties with the term organized crime, for our purposes, it involves market dynamics linking supply and demand, it is illegal, it is transnational in its reach, and therefore commonly requires division of labor. Three important features distinguish the antiquities traffic from other forms of organized crime: 1. It tends to be legal in the demand environments 2. The demand often involves social elites as consumers 3. It only rarely attracts attention from law enforcement authorities. We emphasize these differences because of their importance in the consideration of forms of market reduction (for example, as discussed by Mackenzie (Organized Crime in Art and Antiquities, 2009, Milan: International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, 41-62)), and we explore here policy initiatives which call for innovative mixes of deterrence (which theoretically might have some purchase when social elites are involved) with what has been termed restorative justice © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.