Cultural Dynamics: Museums and Democracy in Motion

博物馆如何（重新）呈现民主的价值观和叙事？随着民主观念的改变，博物馆和记忆场所是如何变化的？博物馆正处于一个变革的时刻--博物馆是什么、为谁服务以及为什么要做这些事情的想法需要更仔细地考虑，因为博物馆在当代民主的社会和文化动态中重新定位。国际上的博物馆正在经历一个重新谈判和重新定位的过程-由内部和外部因素引发-这反映在对博物馆的新定义的发展中。许多人现在把自己定位为处理当代政治问题的社会重要行为者，这些问题涉及包容和排斥、代表性和承认。从19世纪世纪开始，英国和德国有着相似的国家博物馆历史，但政治轨迹却大不相同。当代博物馆景观允许国际间思想、概念和实践的交流，但英国和德国的“博物馆”理念有着显著的不同。该项目的前提是，尽管两国的博物馆和民主观念不同，但它们正在随着全球相互关系和对比反应的动态过程而发生变化。换句话说，每个国家的发展都回应了类似的全球性问题，共同的跨国历史和人文价值观，但它们以不同的方式这样做。而不是专注于历史的角度和分析，我们的项目是在采取当代批判博物馆学的角度来解决这一现象的创新。它旨在分析这些相互关联的过程如何并理解为什么产生了尽管使用相同术语但往往非常不同的结果，这些结果来自“普遍”思想并在相同形式的体制环境中出现。我们的项目通过对各国的“博物馆”理念进行研究，通过对民主问题的处理、代表或回应的案例研究，突出这种对比，同时允许对差异、相似性和变化进行批判性分析。我们的项目涉及来自英国和德国的研究人员，他们使用定性方法和案例研究方法对两国的博物馆进行跨国研究。这将包括机构分析、展览和展示分析、半结构化访谈、游客研究、参与者观察、焦点小组和问卷调查，以收集和分析数据，并与博物馆专业人员举行研讨会，讨论初步结果，制定战略并共同制作特定部门的培训和工具包。我们的研究结果将发表在共同编辑的项目书，学术期刊文章和会议报告，公共传播文章，博士论文，为国际博物馆专业人士提供定制的博物馆行业培训活动和共同制作的在线工具包。我们的目标是丰富新的反思性博物馆研究和博物馆实践的发展-这一领域往往依赖于占主导地位的国家对博物馆的理解的假定“普遍性”，而不是从跨国、国际或全球的角度对博物馆进行细微的区分，以适应不同的当代社会。此外，在民粹主义和反民主倾向日益严重的时代，该项目旨在加强博物馆作为对话民主公共空间的能力。

How do museums (re)present values and narratives of democracy? How are museums and memory sites changing as ideas of democracy change? Museums are in a moment of change - the idea of what a museum is, who it is for and why it does what it does needs to be considered more carefully, as the institution repositions itself within contemporary social and cultural dynamics of democracy. Museums internationally are undergoing a process of renegotiation and repositioning - sparked from within and in response to external factors - which is reflected in the development of a new ICOM definition for museums. Many now position themselves as socially-important actors addressing contemporary political topics, relating to inclusion and exclusion, representation and recognition. From the 19th century, the UK and Germany have similar national museum histories, yet very different political trajectories. The contemporary museum landscape allows for international cross-fertilisation of ideas, concepts and practices, yet the idea of 'the museum' in the UK and Germany differs markedly.The project's premise is that while museums and notions of democracy in the two countries are different, they are changing as a result of a dynamic process of global interrelations and contrasting reactions. In other words, the developments in each country respond to similar globally-circulating issues, to shared transnational histories and humanistic values, yet they do so in different ways. Rather than focussing on a historical perspective and analysis, our project is innovative in taking a contemporary critical museological perspective to address this phenomenon. It aims to analyse how, and to understand why, these interconnected processes produce results that are often quite different, despite using the same terminology, emerging from 'universal' ideas and within the same form of institutional setting. Examining the idea of 'the museum' in each country, through case studies which address, represent or respond to issues of democracy, our project highlights such contrasts, while simultaneously allowing for critical analysis of the differences, similarities and changes.Our project involves researchers from the UK and Germany undertaking transnational research on and in museums in both countries using qualitative methods and taking a case study approach. This will include institutional analyses, exhibition and display analyses, semi-structured interviews, visitor research, participant observation, focus groups and questionnaires to collect and analyse data, and workshops with museum professionals to discuss preliminary findings, to strategize and co-produce sector-specific training and a toolkit. Our results will be published in a co-edited project book, in academic journal articles and conference presentations, in public communication articles, a PhD thesis, bespoke museums sector training events and a co-produced online toolkit for museum professionals internationally.We aim to enrich the development of a new reflexive Museum Studies and museum practice - a field which has too often rested on the assumed 'universality' of dominant national understandings of museums rather than on the nuanced differentiation of museums from transnational, international or global perspectives, for diverse contemporary societies. Furthermore, in times of increasing populist and anti-democratic tendencies, the project intends to strengthen the capabilities of museums to act as dialogical democratic public spaces.