The Routledge Companion to Museum Ethics: Redefining Ethics for the Twenty-First Century Museum

by Janet Marstine (Editor)

Overview

Routledge Companion to Museum Ethics is a theoretically informed reconceptualization of museum ethics discourse as a dynamic social practice central to the project of creating change in the museum. Through twenty-seven chapters by an international and interdisciplinary group of academics and practitioners it explores contemporary museum ethics as an opportunity for growth, rather than a burden of compliance. The volume represents diverse strands in museum activity from exhibitions to marketing, as ethics is embedded in all areas of the museum sector. What the contributions share is an understanding of the contingent nature of museum ethics in the twenty-first century—its relations with complex economic, social, political and technological forces and its fluid ever-shifting sensibility.

The volume examines contemporary museum ethics through the prism of those disciplines and methods that have shaped it most. It argues for a museum ethics discourse defined by social responsibility, radical transparency and shared guardianship of heritage. And it demonstrates the moral agency of museums: the concept that museum ethics is more than the personal and professional ethics of individuals and concerns the capacity of institutions to generate self-reflective and activist practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781136715266
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/23/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	512
File size:	22 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Janet Marstine is Lecturer and Programme Director of Art Museum and Gallery Studies at the University of Leicester. Her research focuses on museum ethics and institutional critique. Marstine is the founder and former director of the Institute of Museum Ethics at Seton Hall University. She is editor of New Museum Theory and Practice: An Introduction (Blackwell, 2005).

Table of Contents

Part One: Theorizing Museum Ethics 1. The Contingent Nature of the New Museum Ethics 2. The Art of Ethics: Theories and Applications to Museum Practice 3. GoodWork in Museums Today...and Tomorrow 4. Museums and the End of Materialism 5. Changing the Rules of the Road: Post-colonialism and the New Ethics of Museum Anthropology 6. "Aroha mai: Whose Museum?" The Rise of Indigenous Ethics within Museum Contexts: A Maori-tribal Perspective 7. The Responsibility of Representation: A Feminist Perspective Part Two: Ethics, Activism and Social Responsibility 8. On Ethics, Activism and Human Rights 9. Collaboration, Contestation and Creative Conflict: On the Efficacy of Museum/Community Partnerships 10. An Experimental Approach to Strengthen the Role of Science Centers in the Governance of Science 11. Peering into the Bedroom: Restorative Justice at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum 12. Being Responsive to be Responsible: Museums and Audience Development 13. Ethics and Challenges of Museum Marketing 14. Memorial Museums and the Objectification of Suffering Part Three: The Radical Potential of Museum Transparency 15. Cultural Equity in the Sustainable Museum 16. ‘Dance through the Minefield’: The Development of Practical Ethics for Repatriation 17. Visible Listening—Discussion, Debate and Governance in the Museum 18. Ethical, Entrepreneurial or Inappropriate? Business Practices in Museums 19. "Why is this here?": Art Museum Texts as Ethical Guides 20. Transfer Protocols: Museum Codes and Ethics in the New Digital Environment 21. Sharing Conservation Ethics, Practice and Decision-Making with Museum Visitors Part Four: Visual Culture and the Performance of Museum Ethics 22. The Body in the (White) Box: Corporeal Ethics and Museum Representation 23. Towards an Ethics of Museum Architecture 24. Museum Censorship 25. Ethics of Confrontational Drama in Museums 26. Conservation Practice as Enacted Ethics 27. Bioart and Nanoart in a Museum Context: Terms of Engagement

Editorial Reviews

"…an excellent record of ethical thinking and theory in the early 21st century." Vanessa Trevelyan, President of the Museums Association

"This important book brings together leading thinkers who take museum ethics beyond the policing of codes by specialists, to being the source, for the entire institution, of dynamic change, legitimacy and an enriched contribution to society…the authors present a vision of a holistic approach to ethics which transforms the museum’s capacity to create value for society". Mark O'Neill, Head of Glasgow Museums 1998-2008

"This book is an indispensible resource for museum scholars and practitioners who want to re-fashion a more moral and humanistic foundation for museum practice. It posits that the truly ethical museum is a place of dialog and democracy that promotes social change." Marjorie Schwarzer, John F. Kennedy University

"This new Companion is remarkable. It offers museum professionals a chance to rethink the work they do from first principles, and it offers students, who may be its most important audience, a chance to understand the museum in its largest frame.... [It] offers philosophical guidance on making the museum, and society, a better place. Indeed, this volume does more than redefine ethics for the twenty-first century museum. It redefines the museum." Steven Lubar, Brown University

'...this volume is courageous and breaks new ground, with the clear purpose of
inspiring scholars and practitioners to consider their work more carefully and deeply.'– Museum Management and Curatorship

'…an excellent record of ethical thinking and theory in the early 21st century.' Vanessa Trevelyan, President of the Museums Association

'This important book brings together leading thinkers who take museum ethics beyond the policing of codes by specialists, to being the source, for the entire institution, of dynamic change, legitimacy and an enriched contribution to society…the authors present a vision of a holistic approach to ethics which transforms the museum’s capacity to create value for society'. Mark O'Neill, Head of Glasgow Museums 1998-2008

'This book is an indispensible resource for museum scholars and practitioners who want to re-fashion a more moral and humanistic foundation for museum practice. It posits that the truly ethical museum is a place of dialog and democracy that promotes social change.' Marjorie Schwarzer, John F. Kennedy University

'This new Companion is remarkable. It offers museum professionals a chance to rethink the work they do from first principles, and it offers students, who may be its most important audience, a chance to understand the museum in its largest frame.... [It] offers philosophical guidance on making the museum, and society, a better place. Indeed, this volume does more than redefine ethics for the twenty-first century museum. It redefines the museum.' Steven Lubar, Brown University

From the Publisher