Kan många bli vi? : Tre länsmuseer ger perspektiv på mångfaldsarbete

Sammanfattning: How do museums reflect a pluralistic society? Since a few decades back in time, diversity is an established concept in Swedish cultural policy. One assumption is that museums could be places that reflect the diversity of cultural expressions in society and also counteract xenophobia and distances between people. Previous strategies to include diversity in museums have been marked by documentation work in order to highlight specific ethnic groups, an approach that in recent years has given way to a more critical approach to the representation of identities. This shift in focus has resulted in increased demands for changes in museum practice, where a more critical approach to representation resulted in more museums increase the importance of audience participation and influence on heritage. This paper claims for a critical approach on identities in museum representations. The aim of this master´s thesis is to prove how museum professionals handle the problems of representations in museum practice. In order to define the study, I´ve looked at three provincial museums and interviewed a total of seven museum professionals. The result of my study raises arguments for public participation in the creation of museum representations. Co-creation is described as the key to create a relevant role for museums in the twenty-first century: in other words, co-creation emphasizes a representation based on participation. Identity is considered to be a difficult concept used in a multicultural society, according to that some professionals point out that it is more appropriate to talk in terms of identification. Several professionals discuss how recognition of marginalized groups and minorities requires long-term efforts, something that can be difficult to implement if the production of diversity is carried out in temporary projects. A major reason for this is a lack of resources and financial constraints to create long term relationships with the audience. Work on standard criticism is increasingly important for museum professionals. Some museums have projects in order to bring a human rights perspective in the work of heritage, this may allow a simplification of the conceptual difficulty of diversity.