Abstract
Foucault’s work has been used to promote a negative view of the museum as
an Enlightenment institution that embodies state power and strives to order the
world according to universal rules and the concept of a total history. This article
argues that an analysis of Foucault’s work actually leads to a view of the
museum that is positive and progressive for dismantling the very notions of
historical continuity and coherence that Foucault rejects. This gives the museum
a unique status for Foucault, as an institution that has its origins in the
Enlightenment values or ‘capabilities’ that enable us to overcome the relations
of power that are based on those Enlightenment values. The museum exemplifies
the tension in Foucault’s position on the Enlightenment: that we must rely on
Enlightenment values of critique, freedom and progress in order to reject the
Enlightenment relations of power that have been based on these values. The
first part of the paper suggests a Foucaultian definition of the museum as a
space of difference and space of representation. The second part argues that
on the basis of this definition, the museum has the potential to enact Foucault’s
genealogy, and to contribute to progress.
an Enlightenment institution that embodies state power and strives to order the
world according to universal rules and the concept of a total history. This article
argues that an analysis of Foucault’s work actually leads to a view of the
museum that is positive and progressive for dismantling the very notions of
historical continuity and coherence that Foucault rejects. This gives the museum
a unique status for Foucault, as an institution that has its origins in the
Enlightenment values or ‘capabilities’ that enable us to overcome the relations
of power that are based on those Enlightenment values. The museum exemplifies
the tension in Foucault’s position on the Enlightenment: that we must rely on
Enlightenment values of critique, freedom and progress in order to reject the
Enlightenment relations of power that have been based on these values. The
first part of the paper suggests a Foucaultian definition of the museum as a
space of difference and space of representation. The second part argues that
on the basis of this definition, the museum has the potential to enact Foucault’s
genealogy, and to contribute to progress.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-14 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Museum and Society |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2006 |
Keywords
- Museum
- Foucault
- genealogy
- enlightenment
- Representation
- Difference
- history / critique