>
>On Tue, 27 Feb 1996, Eric Siegel wrote:
>
>>    This thread gets weirder and weirder: are museums "agents of social
>>    reproduction?" And if so, what does that mean?  And does this tie back
>>    to the thread about sex in the diorama?
>>
>>    Eric Siegel
>>    [log in to unmask]
>>
And Mr. Perry replied:
>"Museums are agents of social reproduction" means that museums aid in the
>perpetuation of the social hierarchy, that the children of working-class
>parents end up in working-class jobs while the children of upper-class
>parents inherit their positions, as well.  Museums are avowed to transmit
>knowledge that is useful for circulation within the uppermiddle strata,
>and these places are made friendly to those who already "know" what to do
>in a museum and are somewhat conversant with the traditions and fetishes
>of academic (read "high") art.
{snip}
>Richard Perry, UC San Diego, [log in to unmask]

So, perhaps the way to put it concisely would be "Museums re-inforce the
status quo" and cement the position of the elite"?  Still a loaded
statement, if less kinky?


--
- The free mind must have one policeman: Irony.
        -- Elbert Hubbard
                                         [[neil hathaway [log in to unmask]]]