Museum Practice. Группа авторов

ethics. Issues to explore in greater depth included: whether ethics is a set of principles and values, a discipline, or a method; and the multiple ways in which ethics is framed – by “universal” values or principles such as human rights or culturally relative practices – and might be negotiated within conflicting systems of values. The network would have benefited from the involvement of more international and non-Western contributors, and from more time to consider how ethics intersects with power and politics. Members also said that they would have welcomed more discussion of case studies outside of the museum sector, such as the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics. A few participants wanted more exposure to speakers who could articulate a conservative perspective on museums so as to challenge the formation of a consensus within the workshop and to help prepare for conversations within the sector.

      Finally, contributors wanted to look at a range of new initiatives to advance twenty-first-century museum ethics. Some contributors championed the possibility of developing an independent body that would stand as an intermediary between institutions and museum professionals, to ensure that museum staff who disagreed with the ethical position of their institution would have a voice; the body would provide support for dissensus, as well as a space to reflect and think critically about ethics in museums. Other participants advocated the establishment of a research and development fund for museums to experiment with socially engaged projects. A few hoped to see an integrity auditing or monitoring tool that could be piloted in the museum sector. Participants were eager to put their ideas into action. Clearly, the research network created momentum among the group to keep conversations flowing.

Conclusion

      The AHRC research network tested the value of the new ethics to address key ethics issues with which museums are grappling and its relevance to developing socially purposeful museums. The conversations that emerged from the network argued that reconceptualizing ethics as a discourse, informed by both intellectual engagement and social practice, is integral to museums’ continued relevance and sustainability. Understanding the significance and confluences among values, case studies, and codes has the potential to help museum practitioners recognize the benefits of self-reflective practice through the lens of the new museum ethics. Clearly, building a strategic approach to embed the new museum ethics is challenging work. But regulation per se is not an adequate response to the ethics quandaries of the twenty-first century. In fact, the reliance on codes alone too often becomes a justification for museums to avoid difficult ethics conversations, particularly around values, principles, and social responsibility. The new museum ethics represents an opportunity for growth, rather than a burden of compliance.

      Engaging in the new museum ethics is a twenty-first-century skill that museum and museum studies leaders must build among students, professionals, and communities. The new ethics is a powerful tool to effect organizational change and work toward social responsibility. It has the capacity to strengthen public trust by equipping museum practitioners to deal sensitively and fairly with the shifting ethical terrain, now and in the future. To develop a level of comfort with ethical decision-making based on a range of social concerns, is to accept the complexity and dynamism of ethics discourse that both reflects and shapes the real issues that museums encounter.

      APPENDIX: LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE MUSEUM ETHICS NETWORK BY EACH WORKSHOP

Workshop, date, and venue	List of contributors
AHRC Ethics Research Network Workshop 1: Social Engagement December 5, 2011 School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester	David Anderson Paul Basu James Dempsey Jocelyn Dodd David Fleming Graeme Gooday John Jackson Ceri Jones Janet Marstine Nick Merriman Eithne Nightingale Mark O’Neill Nick Poole Jette Sandahl Amanda Wallace
AHRC Ethics Research Network Workshop 2: Transparency March 1, 2012 Manchester Museum, Manchester	James Dempsey Jocelyn Dodd John Jackson Ceri Jones Rob Lawlor Janet Marstine Christopher Megone Eithne Nightingale Mike Pickering Nick Poole Jan Ramirez Jette Sandahl
AHRC Ethics Research Network Workshop 3: Shared Guardianship of Collections June 28, 2012 Natural History Museum, London	Paul Basu Maurice Davies James Dempsey Jocelyn Dodd Graeme Gooday Ceri Jones Janet Marstine Christopher Megone Nick Merriman Eithne Nightingale Nick Poole Jette Sandahl Paul Tapsell Janet Ulph Amanda Wallace
AHRC Ethics Research Network Workshop 4: Moving Beyond Canonicity October 18, 2012 Victoria and Albert Museum, London	David Anderson Paul Basu Patricia Cronin Jocelyn Dodd Jamie Dow John Jackson Ceri Jones Megan Kime Janet Marstine Christopher Megone Nick Merriman Eithne Nightingale Nick Poole Jette Sandahl Richard Sandell Matt Smith
AHRC Ethics Research Network Workshop 5: Sustainability February 21, 2013 National Museum of Wales, Cardiff	David Anderson Jocelyn Dodd Robert Janes Ceri Jones Tony Kendle Megan Kime Janice Lane Christopher Megone Eithne Nightingale Nick Poole Jette Sandahl

Note

      1 1 The authors are grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for its support of the research network. We thank our partner institutions, the Museums Association and IDEA CETL, University of Leeds, and the participants in the network. We also very much appreciate the helpful comments on this chapter from our colleague Simon Knell.

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