MUSEUMS, EQUALITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE The last two decades have seen concerns for equality, diversity, social justice and human rights move from the margins of museum thinking and practice, to the core. The arguments – both moral and pragmatic – for engaging diverse audiences, creating the conditions for more equitable access to museum resources, and opening up opportunities for participation, now enjoy considerable consensus in many parts of the world. A growing number of institutions are concerned to construct new narratives that represent a plurality of lived experiences, histories and identities which aim to nurture support for more progressive, ethically-informed ways of seeing and to actively inform contemporary public debates on often contested rights-related issues. At the same time it would be misleading to suggest an even and uncontested transition from the museum as an organisation that has been widely understood to marginalise, exclude and oppress to one which is wholly inclusive. Moreover, there are signs that momentum towards making museums more inclusive and equitable is slowing down or, in some contexts, reversing. Museums, Equality and Social Justice aims to reflect on and, crucially, to inform debates in museum research, policy and practice at this critical time. It brings together new research from academics and practitioners and insights from artists, activists and commentators to explore the ways in which museums, galleries and heritage organisations are engaging with the fast-changing equalities ter- rain and the shifting politics of identity at global, national and local levels and to investigate their potential to contribute to more equitable, fair and just societies. Richard Sandell is Professor and Head of the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester and his research interests focus on museums, human rights and equality. He is Series Editor, with Christina Kreps, of Museum Meanings. His books include Museums, Society, Inequality (2002); Museums, Prejudice and the Reframing of Difference (2007); Museum Management and Marketing with Robert Janes (2007) and, with Jocelyn Dodd and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Re-Present- ing Disability: Activism and Agency in the Museum (2010). Eithne Nightingale is Head of Equality and Diversity at the V&A and has worked in equal oppor- tunities, education, community development and museums for over 30 years. She has taken a lead on museum-wide equality strategies; collaborated with culturally diverse communities on initiatives encompassing collections research, public programming and partnership development; and has writ- ten and lectured extensively on diversity in museums both in the UK and internationally. MUSEUM MEANINGS Series Editors Richard Sandell and Christina Kreps Museums have undergone enormous changes in recent decades; an ongoing process of renewal and transformation bringing with it changes in priority, practice and role as well as new expec- tations, philosophies, imperatives and tensions that continue to attract attention from those working in, and drawing upon, wide ranging disciplines. Museum Meanings presents new research that explores diverse aspects of the shifting social, cultural and political significance of museums and their agency beyond, as well as within, the cultural sphere. Interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and international perspectives and empirical investigation are brought to bear on the exploration of museums’ relationships with their various publics (and analysis of the ways in which museums shape – and are shaped by – such interactions). Theoretical perspectives might be drawn from anthropology, cultural studies, art and art history, learning and communication, media studies, architecture and design and material cul- ture studies amongst others. Museums are understood very broadly – to include art galleries, historic sites and other cultural heritage institutions – as are their relationships with diverse constituencies. The focus on the relationship of the museum to its publics shifts the emphasis from objects and collections and the study of museums as text, to studies grounded in the analysis of bodies and sites; identities and communities; ethics, moralities and politics. Also in the series: Museum Making Heritage and Identity Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions Engagement and Demission in the Contem- Edited by Suzanne MacLeod, Laura Hourston porary World Hanks and Jonathan Hale Edited by Marta Anico and Elsa Peralta Museums in a Troubled World Museums and Community Renewal, Irrelevance or Collapse? Ideas, Issues and Challenges Robert R. Janes Elizabeth Crooke Recoding the Museum Liberating Culture Digital Heritage and the Technologies of Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Museums, Change Curation and Heritage Preservation Ross Parry Christina F. Kreps Rethinking Evolution in the Museum Re-imagining the Museum Envisioning African Origins Beyond the Mausoleum Monique Scott Andrea Witcomb Museums and Education Museums, Society, Inequality Purpose, Pedagogy, Performance Edited by Richard Sandell Eilean Hooper-Greenhill Museums and the Interpretation of Visual Culture Museum Texts Eilean Hooper-Greenhill Communication Frameworks Louise Ravelli Museum, Media, Message Edited by Eilean Hooper-Greenhill Reshaping Museum Space Architecture, design, exhibitions, Learning in the Museum Edited by Suzanne MacLeod George Hein Pasts Beyond Memory Colonialism and the Object Evolution, Museums, Colonialism Empire, Material Culture and the Museum Tony Bennett Edited by Tim Barringer and Tom Flynn Praise for this book ‘Why do museums matter? The contributors to this volume address this important and timely ques- tion from a rich variety of perspectives. Museums, Equality and Social Justice is essential reading for anyone who cares about the roles that museums play in contemporary social life. The museums discussed here are amongst those leading the way as agents of social justice and much is to be learned from their experience.’ Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, New York University, USA and Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Poland. ‘This bold collection of writings reminds us of the merits of exploring unfamiliar and sometimes strange seeming terrain in order to be relevant to the range of people who come to visit museums. No longer is museum “best practice” confined to archival standards or matters of design and interpretation: it extends to the realm of understanding what it means to live in and speak to the issues of the real world. A text for our times.’ Bonita Bennett, District Six Museum, South Africa. MUSEUMS, EQUALITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE Edited by Richard Sandell and Eithne Nightingale First published 2012 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2012 Richard Sandell and Eithne Nightingale for selection and editorial matter; individual contributions, the contributors. The rights of Richard Sandell and Eithne Nightingale to be identifi ed as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Museums, equality, and social justice / edited by Richard Sandell and Eithne Nightingale. p. cm. — (Museum meanings) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Museums—Social aspects. 2. Museums—Philosophy. I. Sandell, Richard, 1967– II. Nightingale, Eithne. AM7.M8835 2012 069—dc23 2011044793 ISBN: 978–0–415–50468–3 (hbk) ISBN: 978–0–415–50469–0 (pbk) ISBN: 978–0–203–12005–7 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon CONTENTS List of illustrations x Notes on contributors xiii Foreword by Mark O’Neill and Lois H. Silverman xx Acknowledgements xxiii Introduction 1 Eithne Nightingale and Richard Sandell PART I Margins to the core? 11 1 The heart of the matter: integrating equality and diversity into the policy and practice of museums and galleries 13 Eithne Nightingale and Chandan Mahal 2 Museologically speaking: an interview with Fred Wilson 38 Janet Marstine 3 Moving beyond the mainstream: insight into the relationship between community-based heritage organizations and the museum 45 Kimberly F. Keith 4 Beyond compliance? Museums, disability and the law 59 Heather J. L. Smith, Barry Ginley and Hannah Goodwin 5 Museums for social justice: managing organisational change 72 David Fleming viii Contents 6 Fred Wilson, good work and the phenomenon of Freud’s mystic writing pad 84 Janet Marstine PART II Connecting/competing equalities 103 7 The margins and the mainstream 105 Gary Younge 8 Cultural diversity: politics, policy and practices. The case of Tate Encounters 114 Andrew Dewdney, David Dibosa and Victoria Walsh 9 A question of faith: