Economic Justice and the Ethics of Public History (Part II)
Facilitators:
Rachel Boyle, Omnia History
Dan Ott, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire
Stella Ress, University of Southern Indiana
Discussants:
Catherine Fleming Bruce, Tnovsa Global Commons
Rachael Finch, Historic Franklin Masonic Hall Foundation
Nichelle Frank, University of Oregon
Kimber Heinz, Bull City 150, Duke University
Jess Lamar Reece Holler, Caledonia Northern Folk Studios
Theodore Karamanski, Loyola University Chicago
Alexandra Lord, Smithsonian National Museum of
American History
About this working group:
At NCPH 2018, the working group Economic Justice and the Ethics of Public History undertook an ambitious agenda of grappling with economic justice and the ethics of public history. By the end of the session, it became clear that the specter of capitalism lay at the center of all our discussions about economic justice and ethics in public history. After all, public historians are not outside capitalism’s peculiar power to obscure inequity, patriarchy, and racial discrimination as “natural market forces.” For example:
- In public history, providing history for a “client” pays the bills; money and power warp inclusive narratives and intellectual freedom in institutional and consultation settings.
- Tuition dollars drive the universities and their history departments to create public history programs offering training for jobs that are in short supply.
- In academia and at our NCPH conference, we preach amazing inclusive and empowering best practices that are not always welcome in the workplace, nor do they always pay living wages.
- Even before this current administration and this 115th US Congress, budgets for the humanities across the nation and in many of the states have been stubbornly stagnant or have even declined.
- Moreover, funding from private foundations and donors often comes with restrictions that inhibit truly transformative projects.
- And profits from inclusive heritage tourism locales usually end up in deep pockets that have the capital to commodify the past, rather than with the communities that lived the history and would most benefit from the opportunity.
Since NCPH 2018, the group’s discussants have evolved and coalesced around an action-oriented agenda that focuses on 1) developing peer resources for professionals negotiating the workplace and improving standards for ethical public history training; 2) exploring alternative economic models for public history practice – like community co-operatives and community benefits agreements; and 3) creating a public history guild or union with standards for professional conduct and remuneration. After months of productive conversation online, the group will re-convene at NCPH 2019 to report on our progress so far, welcome feedback and discussion, and map our movement forward.