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Dear Social History Curators Group list members,
We just wanted to send round a brief update about our current AHRC Co-Design project: ‘how should decisions about heritage be made?’ A team of 14 of us – from funders, national museums, community archives, radical heritage groups, researchers – are taking four months to design a research project, which we will then carry out over the following year. The story of our progress so far can be found here: http://bit.ly/10KlbpO
Out of the workshop a few questions are emerging (as you'll see at the bottom of the blog) which might end up helping us form our research plan but we're currently getting some discussion going about one of them – the politically thorny question of ‘stewardship’ – on our Jisc discussion list: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CODESIGNHERITAGE<http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CODESIGNHERITAGE>
* Some argue stewardship is a conservative concept because it says we're making decisions 'on behalf of' others/everyone with the effect of keeping control within museums.
* But do we need something like the idea of stewardship because of museums' interest in preserving things for the future?
* Is stewardship necessarily a conservative concept? Environmental activists mobilise the idea of stewardship to suggest that we shouldn't put the wants of people her now (in the development world) over the needs of future generations? (The Happy Museum project uses 'stewardship' in this way) See also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2012/jan/04/climate-politics-future-generation-justice
Anyway – you get the idea! If you fancy it, join the discussion list and dive in…
Be really keen to hear people's thoughts on where we are up to in general and we'll be back in touch via this list again after our final workshop to share our research plan.
Best wishes, Helen
Helen Graham
University Research Fellow in Tangible and Intangible Heritage and Director, Centre for Critical Studies in Museums, Galleries and Heritage
School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies
University of Leeds
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
0113 3431224
http://helengraham.wordpress.com/
Current Research Projects:
'How should decisions about heritage be made'? (AHRC Connected Communities, Co-Design Development Grant)
http://codesignheritage.wordpress.com/
Ways of Knowing (AHRC Connected Communities Follow Up)
http://waysofknowingresearch.wordpress.com/
StoryStorm Network (EPSRC Culture and Communities Network+)
The SHCG list is provided for members of Social History Curators Group to discuss subjects relevant to social history in museums. To join SHCG visit www.shcg.org.uk . Opinions expressed in this email are the responsibility of the author and are not necessarily shared by SHCG. To leave the list do not reply to this message but send an email to [log in to unmask] with a blank subject line and these words as the body of the email: SIGNOFF SHCG-LIST