On Tue, 27 Feb 1996, David Haberstich wrote:

>  Richard Perry, I think you have an attitude problem. Museums can ALSO
> be agents of social mobility and change, not just "reproduction." One's
> response depends on many factors. I personally came from a working class
> family that had no particular interest in museums--certainly not art
> museums--but here I am working in a history museum and moonlighting as
> an art historian. At least my parents had no prejudice or hostility
> toward museums. I see museums as gateways to knowledge and feel that
> they serve a democratizing function (if people approach them openly,
> free of the mind-numbing prejudices which consider them "bastions" of
> some alien culture). I'm curious--why would someone with a pessimistic,
> deterministic, bigoted attitude about museums WANT to be on a museum
> listserv?  --David Haberstich

David,
You jump too quickly -- I was merely replying to Eric Siegel's question
of what the term MEANS.  I find that both sides of the question have
valid points to make, and it is not easily compartmentalized as
either/or.  I find that the relationships between museums and elite
groups is not a simple one.


Richard Perry



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