ABSTRACT
There is no doubt that museums and galleries worldwide are struggling to maintain their stability in response to the complex challenges facing the non-profit world. These challenges range from declining attendance for most and over-attendance for some, to finding the appropriate balance between public funding and earned revenues, and none of them are easily overcome. Many of these challenges are inescapably economic, and originate in the belief that unlimited economic growth and unconstrained consumption are essential to our well-being. Indeed, capitalism and the lure of the marketplace have become inescapable for all of us, including organizations. As philosopher Mark Kingwell notes, ‘every moment of waking and sleeping life is shot through with commitment to the goods and services of the global economy. We are capitalism made flesh.’1 The dominant ideology of capitalism and the decline of public funding for museums have coupled to produce a harmful offspring – a preoccupation with the marketplace and commerce, characterized by the primacy of economic interests in institutional decision-making.
