The topic of cultural appropriation is omnipresent in today's world: From schoolchildren dressed up in "Native American costumes" to celebrity hairstyles, there is a constant debate as to whether or to what extent it is acceptable to adopt elements from other cultures.

In their open-access book "Cultural Appropriation", Aurélia Bardon (University of Konstanz) and Jennifer Page (City University of New York) get to the bottom of pressing questions about this phenomenon from the perspective of political theory. They analyze three main arguments that are frequently represented in such discussions: Theft of cultural property, disrespect for other cultures, and failure to respond to the wishes of cultural groups. Using their analysis, the authors show that not every form of cultural appropriation has to be wrong, and they discuss in which cases political intervention would be sensible and feasible.

Open-access book: "Cultural Appropriation"

The open-access book "Cultural Appropriation" (doi: 10.4324/9781003018698) is available online free of charge.