We Need to Talk about Class

Towards a Class-Based Approach in Contemporary Museum Theory and Practice

Datos Bibliográficos

ID16898528
AutoresSerena Iervolino (0000-0002-2745-4139, autor de correspondencia), Domenico Sergi (0000-0001-7007-8186)
Año2023
Volumen11
Número1
Páginas51-63
Fecha de publicación2023-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaMuseum Worlds (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2049-6729 • E-ISSN: 2049-6737
EditorialBerghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3167/armw.2023.110105
OpenAlexW4389168775
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas23

Class differences have historically received limited attention in museum theory and practice, and scholarly publications on issues of class and heritage are still scarce. COVID-19 has shone a particularly harsh light on class divisions. At the height of the pandemic, working-class laborers (such as supermarket cashiers, social care workers, truck and delivery drivers) were asked to shoulder high levels of health risks, exposing entrenched socioeconomic inequities. In this article, we build upon a small-scale research and collecting project, Inequalities, Class, and the Pandemic, carried out in 2021 by the London Museum (formerly known as the Museum of London) and King's College London, to discuss how museums can meaningfully engage with working-class lived experiences in our contemporary neo-liberal societies. We begin by analyzing whether and how museums have addressed working-class issues and (hi)stories. We then draw on the voices and experiences of our research participants to examine the ongoing structural inequalities experienced by working-class Londoners. Building on our empirical research, we argue for museums to play an active role in reclaiming the centrality of class in public culture, particularly addressing the contemporary lived experiences of working-class people

Class (philosophy · Epistemology · Inequality · Media studies · New class · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social class · Social inequality · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Working class · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Law · Museums and Cultural Heritage · Participatory Visual Research Methods