This book is an excellent contribution to debates about the politics of public culture. It will be of interest to students of sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, museum studies and science studies.
"The Politics of Display" brings together studies of contemporary and historical museum shows and challenges the notion that these exhibitions are politically exempt. For example, what does it mean when the Enola Gay, the aircraft which dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima, is displayed?
The contributors to this volume chart the changing relationship between displays and their audience and analyzes the consequent shift in styles of representation towards interactive and multimedia displays. Examples are taken from exhibitions of science, technology and industry, anthropology, geology, natural history and medicine. Contributors include Steven W. Allison-Bunnell, Ken Arnold, Tony Bennett, Thomas F. Gieryn, Penelope Harvey, Sharon Macdonald and Tracy Lang Teslow.
