Museums and Racism

<p>Racism is a hot topic in museums today as well as an urgent social issue. Focused on the broad field of multicultural policy <i>Museums and Racism </i>examines how the Immigration Museum in Melbourne Australia has responded to political culture and public debate around racism.</p><p>Analysis focuses on the conceptualization of the Immigration Museum in the mid-1990s and on the most recent permanent exhibition to be opened there in 2011 which coincided with the publication of a new multicultural policy for Australia. The opening of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra in the intervening period is also examined in some detail as a comparative case study to provide a sense of the broader national social and political context. Message argues that each of the three episodes demonstrates the close relationship between museum and exhibition development on the one hand and policy politics and public opinion on the other hand. </p><p>Including a discussion of examples from the United States and other relevant contexts <i>Museums and Racism </i>is key reading for students and scholars of museum studies and cultural studies around the world. The book should also be of great interest to museum practitioners and policymakers in the area of multiculturalism.</p>