Author: Bryan Cockrell

A Call for Transformation: Shifting the Narratives

A Call for Transformation: Shifting the Narratives

This is the final post in a four-part blog series about transforming the academic-industrial complex, particularly museums. After introducing the proposal, I described ending the myth of neutrality and then discussed turning away from partnerships that exploit people and the earth. The last part of my call is to: shift the narratives that are being told and center authors beyond the institution’s traditional umbrella of authority A starting point is language. In A Million Black Anthropocenes or None, Katherine Yusoff {+}

A Call for Transformation: Dismantling Extractive Partnerships

A Call for Transformation: Dismantling Extractive Partnerships

After introducing my call for transformation within museums and the wider academic-industrial complex, and presenting the first part of my call, ending the myth of neutrality, I am writing to explain the second component of my call for transformation: dismantle partnerships with agencies and corporations that exploit people and the earth. Caring about people and the earth is not only part of the work of anthropologists and archaeologists, but should be part of our lives without the need for approbation {+}

A Call for Transformation: Ending the Myth of Neutrality

A Call for Transformation: Ending the Myth of Neutrality

Following my introductory post, I now describe the first of three parts of my call for transformation in museums and the academic-industrial complex. The first part is to: (1) end (finally) the narrative that museums and academic institutions are neutral. Museums and academic institutions are not neutral. Instead, they are often rooted in inequality: the accumulation of material, money, physical space, and knowledge, along with alliances with other institutions that include the state. As Nathan Sentance argues, institutions that receive {+}