ABSTRACT

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.

Chapter 3 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at https://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license. 

part I|35 pages

Museums, politics and persuasion

chapter |16 pages

Introduction

Memory, politics and human rights

chapter 1|17 pages

Selective Memory

Memorial museums, human rights, and the politics of victimhood

part II|52 pages

Writing national histories

chapter 2|17 pages

Between Traditional and Modern Museology

Exhibiting national history in the Museum of Georgia

chapter 3|18 pages

Curating Enslavement and the Colonial History of Denmark

The 2017 centennial 1

chapter 4|15 pages

Kosovo’s NEWBORN Monument

Persuasion, contestation, and the narrative constructions of past and future

part III|61 pages

Displaying difficult pasts

chapter 5|25 pages

“Inspiration Lives here”

Struggle, martyrdom, and redemption in Atlanta’s National Center for Civil and Human Rights

chapter 6|17 pages

The Sơn Mỹ Memorial and Museum

A continuous memorial service to remember and bear witness to the 1968 Mỹ Lai Massacre

chapter 7|17 pages

Memory as Persuasion

Historical discourse and moral messages at Peru’s Place of Memory, Tolerance, and Social Inclusion