The Local Museum in the Global Village : Rethinking Ideas, Functions, and Practices of Local History Museums in Rapidly Changing Diverse Communities

In remote areas of Europe, local history museums struggle to connect with the rapidly changing and increasingly diverse communities around them. This book asks how these museums can recast themselves to strengthen the links to their communities. Combining theoretical deliberations, empirical investigations of the case of two Norwegian islands and a museum experiment, this book offers starting points for rethinking this institution, while at the same time providing suggestions for locally adapted museum practice. The book is of interest to anyone interested in the present and future of local history and small local history museums in times of major demographic transformation. Contents Preface Summary 1. Introduction: Local history museums in changing communities Rethinking the local history museum 2. Inspiration from museum and memory studies 3. The Norwegian context Historical consciousness among Hitra and Frøya’s population and the local museum 4. Memory and history, historical culture, historical consciousness and the local museum 5. Historical consciousness among Hitra’s and Frøya’s population An experiment in contemporary documentation 6. Documentation of labour immigrants’ experiences and views of the local past and present 7. Concluding remarks: The local museum as facilitator of and partner in negotiations of local history, identity and belonging Bibliography

In remote areas of Europe, local history museums struggle to connect with the rapidly changing and increasingly diverse communities around them. Insa Müller asks how these museums can recast themselves to strengthen the links to their communities. Combining theoretical deliberations, empirical investigations of the case of two Norwegian islands and a museum experiment, she offers starting points for rethinking the local history museum, while at the same time providing suggestions for locally adapted museum practice.