Routledge Museum Revolutions: How museums change and are changed

This single-volume museum studies reference title explores the ways in which museums are shaped and configured and how they themselves attempt to shape and change the world around them. Written by a leading group of museum professionals and academics from around the world and including new research, the chapters reveal the diverse and subtle means by which museums engage and in so doing change and are changed. The authors span over 200 years discussing national museums, ecomuseums, society museums, provincial galleries, colonial museums, the showman’s museum, and science centres. Topics covered include: disciplinary practices, ethnic representation, postcolonial politics, economic aspiration, social reform, indigenous models, conceptions of history, urban regeneration, sustainability, sacred objects, a sense of place, globalization, identities, social responsibility, controversy, repatriation, human remains, drama, learning and education. Capturing the richness of the museum studies discipline, Museum Revolutions is the ideal text for museum studies courses, providing a wide range of interlinked themes and the latest thought and research from experts in the field. It is invaluable for those students and museum professionals who want to understand the past, present and future of the museum. Review ‘The twenty-eight essays included in Museum Revolutions are written by an impressive international body of contributors…Museum Revolutions also clearly contributes to the literature in museum ethics, as the essays are rich in ethical topics such as the politics of representation, ecomuseums, repatriation, social responsibility, indigenous peoples and new museum models, treatment of human remains, and learning and difference … I believe that Museum Revolutions is not only an ideal text for any museum history curriculum it is an important addition to any museum studies library.’ – Erin Peters, Institute of Museum Ethics