Anna de Jong Successfully Defends Her PhD

It is with great pleasure that we announce that MACCH member Anna de Jong successfully defended her PhD on June 24, 2025. Her research explored a series of critical questions: What happens when something is suddenly perceived as a security threat? Such perceptions often lead to calls for new laws or policy measures. But what are the legal consequences of these responses?

Under the supervision of Hildegard Schneider and Donna Yates, Anna examined how these processes
unfold. She focused specifically on the response to the narrative that cultural goods were being used
to finance terrorism and for money laundering within organized crime. Her research reveals how
quickly an issue can be labelled a security threat— a process known as securitization—even when
there is little evidence to support such a classification. This securitization carries significant legal, administrative, and practical risks. Anna’s research demonstrates how legal and policy responses to perceived threats can lead to hasty legislation with far-reaching consequences. She illustrated this by analysing among others two European measures: the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (transposed last year into the Anti-Money Laundering Regulation) and the new EU Regulation on the Import of Cultural Goods. Her findings show both were heavily influenced—both in their creation and implementation—by a security narrative that frames art and the art trade as potential threats.

Anna successfully defended her dissertation on June 24. During the defence, the examination
committee—chaired by fellow MACCH member Lars van Vliet—posed a wide range of questions, from her chosen methodology and terminology (always a delicate matter in interdisciplinary research!) to the potential impact of the European anti-money laundering framework on major international art events such as TEFAF.