ABSTRACT
The Introductory chapter opens by defining the book's aims, which is to analyze how the production of cultural heritage in museums is affected by market forces and the cultural context in which museums work today. It points out two central questions that the book will address. First, how are culture-economic pressures met and perceived by museums, and in what ways do they affect how heritage museums perceive the framework of their activities and ultimately choose to produce new exhibitions, programs, and events? Second, when numbers “count” and demands to attract significant publics increase, whose heritage counts most in practice, and how do needs to account for production quantitatively affect the choices museums make to produce and assemble exhibitions? The chapter defines and problematizes what is meant by the term “museums.” The introductory chapter then provides background to the book by presenting the museums upon which it rests, and the reasons for choosing them. It then presents the study's theoretical framework and provides a methodological explanation of how the team worked ethnographically.
