Routledge Museums and Sites of Persuasion: Politics, Memory and Human Rights (Museum Meanings)

Museums and Sites of Persuasion examines the concept of museums and memory sites as locations that attempt to promote human rights, democracy and peace. Demonstrating that such sites have the potential to act as powerful spaces of persuasion or contestation, the book also shows that there are perils in the selective memory and history that they present. Examining a range of museums, memorials and exhibits in places as varied as Burundi, Denmark, Georgia, Kosovo, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam and the US, this volume demonstrates how they represent and try to come to terms with difficult histories. As sites of persuasion, the contributors to this book argue, their public goal is to use memory and education about the past to provide moral lessons to visitors that will encourage a more democratic and peaceful future. However, the case studies also demonstrate how political, economic and social realities often undermine this lofty goal, raising questions about how these sites of persuasion actually function on a daily basis. Straddling several interdisciplinary fields of research and study, Museums and Sites of Persuasion will be essential reading for those working in the fields of museum studies, memory studies, and genocide studies. It will also be essential reading for museum practitioners and anyone engaged in the study of history, sociology, political science, anthropology and art history. Review 'The booming globalisation of historical memory since the l980s has been "musealised." Apsel and Sodaro’s exemplary book draws cases from societies in five continents. These sites of memory and atrocity emphasise universal human rights, and peace.’ – Nigel Young, UK ‘Through a critical interrogation of memorial museums and monuments, this book provides new and much deeper understanding of the authority of the heritage space. It brings us on a journey that examines how successive generations remember, negotiate, interpret and display difficult pasts in an attempt to shape contemporary attitudes and behaviour.’ – Elizabeth Crooke, Ulster University, Ireland About the Author Joyce Apsel is Clinical Professor in Liberal Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences at New York University and President of the Institute for the Study of Genocide. She is author of Introducing Peace Museums (2016) and co-edited publications  include: Genocide Matters: Ongoing Issues and New Perspectives (2014) and Museums for Peace: Transforming Cultures (2012). Her research interests include comparative genocide, human rights, pedagogy, and peace and museum studies. Amy Sodaro is Associate Professor of Sociology at Borough of Manhattan Community College/City University of New York. Her research focuses on memorialization of atrocity, particularly in memorial museums. She is co-editor of Memory and the Future: Transnational Politics, Ethics and Culture (2010) and is author of Exhibiting Atrocity: Memorial Museums and the Politics of Past Violence (2018).