Challenging Embedded Whiteness in Museums

Abstract

Despite decades of ‘diversity work’ in the cultural sector, there is now an abundance of evidence to show that approaches to diversity and inclusion have not created the conditions for significant and lasting change towards race equity and that alternative approaches are needed (Arokiasamy 2023; Ali and Byrne 2022). In this context, questions emerge around the limitations of current approaches, the ethical issues that arise in equity and diversity work, and the underlying causes of ongoing racial inequality in the sector. Increasingly, cultural organisations are being understood as spaces of embedded whiteness that are ill-equipped and, in many cases, unwilling to drive forward deep organisational and structural change. The ways in which power, privilege and whiteness manifest in the cultural sector remain profoundly under-researched and are frequently marginalised in professional discourse. Based on findings from a 3-year action research project with London Museum, we argue in this paper that a direct and uncompromising focus on ‘whiteness’ and how it operates in our day-to-day lives and contexts can, if approached as part of the supportive and careful development of staff and leaders, offer challenging yet productive and deeply transformative routes towards recognising and addressing racism. Sustained research with a single institution illustrate how these findings hold great significance to expand and deepen approaches to anti-racist practice within cultural organisations and for the wider sector.