Description
"The Idea of a Human Rights Museum" is the first book to examine the formation of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and to situate the museum within the context of the international proliferation of such institutions. Sixteen essays consider the wider political, cultural and architectural contexts within which the museum physically and conceptually evolved drawing comparisons between the CMHR and institutions elsewhere in the world that emphasize human rights and social justice.
This collection brings together authors from diverse fields—law, cultural studies, museum studies, sociology, history, political science, and literature—to critically assess the potentials and pitfalls of human rights education through “ideas” museums. Accessible, engaging, and informative, the collection’s essays will encourage museum-goers to think more deeply about the content of human rights exhibits.
The Idea of a Human Rights Museum is the first title in the University of Manitoba Press’s Human Rights and Social Justice Series. This series publishes work that explores the quest for social justice and the basic rights and freedoms to which all human beings are entitled, including civil, political, economic, social, collective, and cultural rights.
Reviews
“An exceptional anthology of informative, thoughtful, and insightful commentaries.”
- Helen Dumont
"Astutely mines CMHR’s contradictions, challenges and possibilities. The book’s essays recount the complicated story of the museum’s development and offer a robust bibliography of resources. This publication is important because it not only documents CMHR’s genesis, but it also serves as a model for the kind of inter-disciplinary dialogue and analysis that all major museum projects—no matter what their focus is—can and should inspire.”
- Marjorie Schwarzer