ABSTRACT
The overwhelming emphasis on delivering the instrumental outcomes of social policy was viewed as a narrow perception of what constituted the full range of museums’ impact and value. The stated purposes of the Federation of International Human Rights Museums appear to be aligned with Mark Moore’s vision of the role of public value (PV) in addressing unmet needs and unresolved social issues. Moore’s theory of PV emerged at a time when the New Public Management (NPM) was enjoying prominence. New Labour’s social policy agenda and its implementation through the NPM received a mixed reception from museums. The widely-held perception that New Labour’s instrumentalist agenda had been imposed, diverting cultural activity from core purposes and effectively relegating the importance of intrinsic value to the side-lines, became increasingly contentious. Museums were particularly identified with the delivery of social inclusion, one of the cornerstones of New Labour policy.
