We Need to Talk about Class
Towards a Class-Based Approach in Contemporary Museum Theory and Practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 16898528 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Serena Iervolino (0000-0002-2745-4139, corresponding author), Domenico Sergi (0000-0001-7007-8186) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 51-63 |
| Publication date | 2023-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Museum Worlds (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2049-6729 • E-ISSN: 2049-6737 |
| Publisher | Berghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3167/armw.2023.110105 |
| OpenAlex | W4389168775 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 23 |
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
Museums, Prejudice and the Reframing of Difference
Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education
Social mobility and class structure in modern Britain
Museums, Society, Inequality
Democratizing Culture or Cultural Democracy?
The Social Impact of the Arts
Furlough and Household Financial Distress during the Covid‐19 Pandemic
Cultural Analysis and Bourdieu's Legacy
Formations of Class and Gender
It wasn’t all bad’
Furloughing and Covid-19
Chavs - The Demonization of the Working Class
On bullshit in cultural policy practice and research
Struggles for distinction
Dismantling the Master’s House
Museums, Memory and History
Colonialism and Modern Social Theory
Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries
Work, Employment and Society
My Life Is More Valuable Than This
A New Model of Social Class? Findings from the BBC's Great British Class Survey Experiment
Art and the Twenty-First Century Gift
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |