White-Collar Crime, Organised Crime and the Challenges of Doing Research on Art Crime

Abstract

This chapter reviews some of the opportunities and difficulties in planning and conducting a research project on art crime. It focuses on researching the trafficking of cultural objects and draws on the research literature in white-collar and organised crime. Looking at global trafficking in cultural objects in three phases—source, transit and demand—we consider how to frame the research possibilities at each stage. Issues covered include access, interviewing, use of datasets, ethics and risk.