Michelle Purdy, Transforming the Elite

author, who also makes the unsubstantiated claim that it was "shown in one of the main exhibition spaces" (168).Despite it being the work of an outside production company, the author uses it as evidence to shed light on the limits of the kind of activism that the CMHR endorses.There are valid criticisms that can, and should, be made about the limits of activist capacity at and through the CMHR.Suggesting, however, that an advertisement commissioned by the Friends of the CMHR -the fundraising arm of the museum -was core content in exhibition galleries is problematic.It creates an unfair reflection of the research, curatorial, and design decisions of CMHR employees for whom this advertisement was not their work.Putting aside such concerns, the book is written in a thoughtful way.Robertson welcomes the reader in by personalizing the narrative and inserting herself as author at opportune points.This effectively guides the reader through her questions, research, and analysis in engaging ways, making the work as a whole a useful classroom textbook.The case studies that she explains are an irreplaceable resource for undergraduate and master's level students.Robertson delves into the ways workers in Canadian museums have developed their community engagement, collections, and advocacy portfolios.She is honest with how the process of writing this book changed her opinion on museum capacities in social justice and contemporary collecting.The colour photographs are beautifully printed; they help tell the stories that Robertson discusses here.For students of History, Art, Museum Studies, and Urban Planning, this book teaches the reader how museum spaces, art galleries, and movements around remembrance have been politicized, co-opted

Desegregation · Elite · Political science · Politics · Critical Race Theory in Education · Law · Public Administration