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Paper short abstract:

British sociologies of racism have shown the 1960s-80s to be foundational to constructions of British racism. Yet this period remains overlooked in contemporary museum critique. This paper will explore the legacies of self-declared ethical best practice developed during this time, and its impacts.

Paper long abstract:

Whilst sociologies of British racism have always placed significant emphasis on the 1960s-1980s as foundational to the institutionalised landscape of whiteness in Britain today, these formative years have largely been overlooked within post-colonial critiques of the UK museum sector. This paper will explore how territorial decolonisation, self-declared anti-racism, liberalism, technocratic expertise and museum ethics intersected with the increasing professionalisation of the sector. It will draw on archives of the UK Museum Ethnographers Group and the Museums Association to argue that these formative years structurally embedded inequalities, oppressions and entitlements within notions of best practice. It will argue that this continues to shape the limits within which decolonial work must engage today. It will focus in particular on how “best practice” is encased within a self-articulated ethical completeness, based on narrowly defined public responsibility and access. And how this continues to restrict the possibilities for more human futures for collections and belongings from the African continent through policy and process.

The paper will focus on defining themes of the era, including multiculturalism and anti-racism, museum documentation, processes of material care and public responsibility through the regulation of policy.