Museums, the Media and Refugees : : Stories of Crisis, Control and Compassion / / Katherine Goodnow, Jack Lohman, Philip Marfleet.

• VerfasserIn: Goodnow, Katherine,; Lohman, Jack,; Marfleet, Philip,
• MitwirkendeR: Goodnow, Katherine,; Lohman, Jack,; Marfleet, Philip,
• Place / Publishing House: New York; , Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2008]; ©2008
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Language: English
• Series: Museums and Diversity ; 3
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (208 p.)

Across countries and time, asylum-seekers and refugees have been represented in a variety of ways. In some representations they appear negatively, as dangers threatening to ‘over-run’ a country or a region with ‘floods’ of incompatible strangers. In others, the same people are portrayed positively, with compassion, and pictured as desperately in need of assistance. How these competing perceptions are received has significant consequences for determining public policy, human rights, international agreements, and the realization of cultural diversity, and so it is imperative to understand how these images are perpetuated. To this end, this volume reflects on museum practice and the contexts, stories, and images of asylum seekers and refugees prevalent in our mass media. Based on case studies from Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, the overall findings are illustrative of narratives and images common to museums and the media throughout the world. They aim to challenge political rhetoric and populist media imagery and consider what forms of dissent are likely to be sustained and what narratives ultimately break through and can lead to empathy and positive political change.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- How Do We Sing Our Song in a Strange Land? Belonging: Voices of London’s Refugees in the Museum of London -- Forgotten by History: Refugees, Historians and Museums in Britain -- SECTION ONE Traditional Methods and New Moves: Migrant and Refugee Exhibitions in Australia and New Zealand -- SECTION TWO Framing Refugees: Context and Narratives in Other Media -- CHAPTER 1 Introduction and Overview -- CHAPTER 2 Conceptual Proposals and Analytic Steps -- CHAPTER 3 Specifying Contexts: Significant Features -- CHAPTER 4 The Tampa and Initial Framing -- CHAPTER 5 Hardening and Sustaining a Frame -- CHAPTER 6 One Represention Unravelled, Another Sustained -- CHAPTER 7 Dissent: Challenges Focused on Truth and Law -- CHAPTER 8 Points of Change: From Concerns for Individuals to Concerns for Groups -- CHAPTER 9 Change: From Individuals to Groups to Policies -- CHAPTER 10 Extensions: Other Countries, Continuing Questions -- Bibliography