New Labour and the Museum in Scotland: Social Inclusion and the Citizen

Abstract

In their first term in UK office since 1979, and also following their election to the Scotland Parliament, ‘New Labour’ attempted to reposition the museum within society in order to harness its potential for the transformation of the citizen. Through an examination of policy documents created at both the UK and Scottish level during this term, this paper highlights the various discursive shifts that contributed to this attempt to change the relationship between the state, the museum and the citizen. By critically engaging with a variety of the ideas suggested in these documents, it is proposed that, although there is potential for a progressive museum service to develop, there is also a slightly more ominous undertone to such an alignment of state ideology with museum practice. Hence, questions must be asked about Labour's motivation for such a manoeuvre, and whether or not the museum can ever be positioned as such a powerful social agent (as the documentation suggests) in the implementation of policy goals such as social inclusion and justice.

Key Words:

• Museums
• social inclusion
• citizenship
• justice
• New Labour
• Scotland

Acknowledgements

In the completion of this paper I would like to thank; my supervisors Professor Ronan Paddison and Dr Joanne Sharp for their guidance; Glasgow Museums for allowing me access into their organisation, specifically Drs Martin Bellamy and William Kilbride for facilitating my research (although this paper is not based on any specific empirical data collected to date); Jennie Morgan for her essential reading suggestions; and finally Professor Chris Philo and Dr Hayden Lorimer for the opportunity to write this paper, particularly Chris for his essential help in editing the paper.

Notes

¹The term ‘state’ in the context of this paper is a shorthand term to describe the apparatus of government that is used to create and then implement policy.

²The term ‘museum’ is used in a very general sense that wishes to include the whole myriad of institutions that could be loosely classed as a museum. I include within this art galleries, as policy often links the two together.

³The following paper forms part of a wider PhD thesis that attempts to consider many of the issues raised with regards to the use of museums within Glasgow.

⁴Though, as will be stated at a later point in this paper, some museums were ahead of this shift.

⁵Although DCMS documentation may only be specifically relevant to England and Wales, it is essential to consider it in the Scottish context as it forms a framework within which Scottish Museum policy is developed.

⁶See again, the definition of social inclusion which is also re-stated in this document.

⁷An Outreach Scheme would perhaps take the form of the museum ‘going out’ into the community specifically to engage with local people; possibly through some form of collaboration to develop an exhibition or by taking objects out of the museum to another location.

⁸These policy ideas have also been resisted by some; see Sandell (2003).

⁹The traditional ‘manager’ of a museum's collection from preservation and collection to presentation and display.

¹⁰This term in itself is highly contentious in its meaning, especially when considering ‘relevant’ to whom.

¹¹Again, using Glasgow Museums as an example, ideas surrounding access and provision that are intended to be socially just have been prevalent long before the election of New Labour.

¹²Today the emphasis is upon learning; see Hooper-Greenhill (2007).

¹³This can especially be seen in the case of Art Galleries, but may also be seen within more general museums.

¹⁴See Bruce et al., 2007 for examples of their work at GoMA.