“But the pay was horrible
” Advancing equity in the museum and the fight for a living wage
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21108335 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Amanda Tobin Ripley (0009-0004-7213-0178, DB Engineering & Consulting (Germany), corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-23 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0896-9205 • E-ISSN: 1569-1632 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/08969205261460294 |
| OpenAlex | W7165647475 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 32 |
This paper analyzes how contemporary art museum workers in the U.S. are advancing intersectional social justice through their labor organizing and demands for a living wage. The mixed-methods study uses social reproduction theory to situate museum work as exploited labor and to examine how this contemporary unionization wave is fighting for a reconfigured museum field that is simultaneously pro-worker, anti-racist, and feminist. The analysis focuses on considerations of pay equity, as a site of convergence for the movement’s transformational aims and material achievements
Equity (law) · Field (mathematics) · Living wage · Pay Equity · Racism · Reproduction · Social justice · Social reproduction · Wage · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · Museums and Cultural Heritage
How Not to Skip Class
Museums and Wealth
Bargaining at the Art Museum
“Not just for coal miners”
Reconsidering People as the Institution
The Half Opened Door
Philanthropy in America
Laboring Faithfully for Reasonable Wages
The Private Museum Goes Public
Labours of Love
We Are Workers in a Workplace Who Have Rights”
Plutocratic Philanthropy
The myth of 'pink collaring
Practice Makes 'Museum People
Gender and Creative Labour
The New Labor Activism, a New Labor Sociology
Flexible Coding of In-depth Interviews
Conflicting visions in American art museums
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |