Basotho blankets

Ownership and Appropriation

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2254210
AutoresTuulikki Pietilä (0000-0001-6938-6691, University of Helsinki, autor correspondente)
Ano2023
Volume29
Fascículo1
Páginas124-144
Data de publicação2023-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1359-0987 • E-ISSN: 1467-9655
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-9655.13823
OpenAlexW4296312726
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas26

This article examines claims of ownership and appropriation of Basotho blankets. Ingrained in the ritual and mundane reproduction of life among the Basotho people of Lesotho, the luminous blankets and their story have enticed many to deal in them. The blankets are manufactured and trademarked by Aranda Textile Mills, and in recent years they have been adapted by Basotho fashion designers, foreign private entrepreneurs, and the Louis Vuitton fashion house and depicted in Marvel's Black Panther film. The diversity of the actors involved has created a complex field of entitlement claims. The article develops a theoretical framework for understanding the processes through which actors claim, appropriate, and transform the value of 'heritage' items. This is done by viewing the actors' efforts as 'scale-making projects' across 'regimes of value' that aim to expand their 'spatiotemporal control' and by viewing the actors themselves as 'brands' posing as originators of value

Aesthetics · Appropriation · Archaeology · Art · Economics · Entitlement (fair division · Epistemology · Livelihood · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Computer Science · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · History · Public Spaces through Art