Museums, Archives and Protest Memory

This is a fascinating study of the challenges faced by cultural institutions in collecting and curating the memory of protest. Written in a clear and accessible manner which will appeal to a wide readership, it offers a compelling argument about the civic value of giving protest an afterlife. Highly recommended.
 - Ann Rigney, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
This short book enlivens memory as something that can spark protest and propel the commemoration, re-use and attempted management of its ‘afterlives’ by various players. Case studies of the Women’s March and London’s environmental river activisms offer rich models for readers seeking to understand the prefigurative political possibilities of activist collaborations with cultural institutions and for cultural workers alike. A terrific read.  

- Kylie Message, Australian National University, Australia

This book addresses the emergence of ‘protest memory’ as a powerful contemporary shaper of ideas and practices in culture, media and heritage domains. Directly focused on the role of museum and archive practitioners in protest memory curation, it makes a compelling contribution to our understanding of how social movements and activist experiences are publicly remembered and activated for social and environmental justice.

Red Chidgey is Senior Lecturer in Gender and Media at the Department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries, King’s College London. They are co-investigator of the Afterlives of Protest Research Network (AHRC) and former co-chair of the Memory & Activism working group of the Memory Studies Association.

Joanne Garde-Hansen is Professor of Culture, Media and Communication in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds, and has published widely on media and memory, media and water, and media histories. She led the Afterlives of Protest Research Network (AHRC) while at the University of Warwick.