Museums and ongoing racism in a changing ethical landscape

Over the last 18 months, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, the ethical landscape of museums and cultural organisations has shifted. Urgent work and action are being pursued around anti-racism as institutions come to better recognise their complicity in sustaining structural inequalities. The reception of this work – both positive and negative - offers a fertile ground for the study of ongoing racism and the production of ‘whiteness’ in UK society. In this talk, Katy will share the key theoretical underpinnings of new research being undertaken at the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, University of Leicester, into ‘whiteness’ as a form of racialised power, a concept that can help to hold the focus of race equity work onto the systems and structures that enable racism to continue. Katy will share emerging findings into how whiteness manifests in contemporary museum practice, and show why new forms of racism evolve at particular moments in time to stifle, manage, and contain change. Finally, Katy will highlight emerging approaches to disrupt and disinvest in whiteness in the cultural sector.

Katy Bunning is a Lecturer in the School of Museum Studies at University of Leicester, and works closely with the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries on research into museums, racism, and racial justice movements. Katy’s recent book Negotiating Race and Rights in the Museum (2021) unpacks the changing manifestations of white normativity in museums in the USA, and the racial politics that have shaped the evolution of museum cultures over time. Her current research focuses on supporting structural and cultural shifts within museums to address embedded forms of whiteness at play.