Museum Activism

'Museums have woken from their slumber. Here is a clarion call to leave behind the "immorality of inaction" and confront a troubled world, a threatened planet, and threats to cultural diversity, equality and justice. This volume documents the extraordinary range of ways in which museum activism, as an integral and necessary part of contemporary museum practice, is at work in the 21st century. Janes and Sandell marshal an impressive line-up of authors across the globe who are using the "civic resource" of the museum to bring about environmental, social and political change. The book is a handbook for this urgent task. Read it and join the struggle!'

- Conal McCarthy, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

'Are museums shrines to the past, hubs of engagement for the present, or shapers of the future? Assembling dozens of contributions by leading and new voices in museum studies, Museum Activism targets the core values and principles guiding museum practice today with the aim of transforming the way we think about the social role of museums. This book offers a deep reflection on the limits and potential for museum activism at a time of deepening economic inequality and environmental collapse, a bold call for action for the international museum community, and a field guide to museum activism in practice. Slaying the zombie myth of institutional neutrality that excuses institutional complacency and inaction, it argues for a vision of the museum as an ally and agent of change. Activists around the world are calling on museums to leverage their cultural power to help shape the future for the common good. This book is an insider’s guide to making it happen.'

- Beka Economopoulos, Founding Director of The Natural History Museum, USA, a traveling museum and museum transformation project

'Janes and Sandell have assembled a powerful volume of essays that encourages museums to transform themselves from precious vaults into active agents of social justice. Museum Activism is a collective call for museums to become more mindful, moral, and courageous places of conscience. These timely essays challenge museums to become more aware of the toxic legacies and current devastation of colonialism, imperialism, xenophobia, homophobia, racism and sexism and to become unafraid in "addressing the big problems and the big questions" that confront us globally. This publication provides a needed wake-up call, a radical re-imagining of museums and a range of practical strategies for action!'

- Jennifer Scott, Director & Chief Curator of Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, University of Illinois at Chicago, USAMuseum Activism features 34 essays by 50 authors from 14 countries on six continents that look at how museums are working as activists on issues, such as climate change, decolonization, sustainability, the Holocaust, the refugee crises, feminism, politics and queer activism, human rights and poverty.

-Rob Alexander, Rocky Mountain OutlookThe 53 authors involved in this book did a fabulous job in translating their engagement and research into language for an academic publication that is understandable and able to convey the reasons behind their personal engagement. As the editors stated in the introduction, a book with such a big topic can only be “partial and particular” but the book is an valuable orientation within the discourse and will provide many points of reference for future research. I found this book comforting as I resonated with many of the frustrations shared in the chapters and it did make me hopeful to be reminded that there is a whole community out there doing important work.

-Anabel Roque Rodríguez, Anabel Roque Rodríguez Blog

The book is a strong collection of essays on activist museum practices around the world and it deserves a wide readership, not just by museum workers, but also by people who are unconvinced by claims that museums are entitled to and worthy of support[...] The world is full of racists, homophobes, misogynists and climate breakdown deniers. They continue to resist the notion that museums can never be, and should stop pretending to be, neutral[...] But resistance is rendered far more difficult as a result of the existence of this book.

-David Fleming, Museums Journal

"This publication is vital reading for those arts managers who are interested in progressing their own activist ideas or activism within their organisations. It is primarily suitable those working in the museums and heritage sectors, but as many of the case studies touch on wider fields, it is also highly relevant for those working in arts, community learning and science engagement settings...Altogether, it is an excellent publication providing theoretical and practical examples of how museums can embrace activism and be harnessed as a force for good."

- Arts Management, 2019

"Bringing together a well-selected collection of current and best practice activism by and at museums across a global community spanning six continents, Museum Activism builds upon existing linkages between social protest and reform movements and transformations within museum scholarship and practice"

- Kylie Message & Eleanor Foster, Museum Management and Curatorship

"Museum Activism is undoubtedly the most influential scholarly book I’ve read in recent times. It is a book that demands multiple readings, a resource that discloses new meanings every time it is consulted, a body of reference that untangles the complex interpretations of a concept which is still uncomfortable for many of us working in the museum field." - Andrea Bandelli, Executive Director, Science Gallery International