International Trafficking in Cultural Objects: The Privatisation of the Common Good

In this chapter, we define what has been widely discussed today as international trafficking in cultural objects, formerly known as illicit trafficking in cultural goods, given its legal pedigree. We will discuss how this underground trade has been characterised as a complex mechanism that has increasingly privatised the common good. The systemic machinery that characterises the trafficking of cultural objects operates in various spaces of society and involves a diverse group of actors, focusing on the actual smuggling of authentic or counterfeit cultural objects; illicit excavations; the removal of artefacts during armed conflicts and the production, exchange and use of falsified documentation, among others. The chapter seeks to show the measures that have been taken by the authorities responsible for curbing trafficking to overcome the well-articulated and systemic transactional organisation of trafficking in cultural goods and inserts Brazil in the list of the thirty countries where the modality has grown the most.