Thanks to everyone who joined in on the Tweetchat yesterday. We had a rich conversation centered on chapter 2 that will be available on the blog next Monday.
On to chapter 3! Be aware that this chapter is significantly longer than the previous two, it’s actually the longest one of the Toolkit…40 pages…so plan accordingly. The next Tweetchat will be on Monday 05/27. I will be joined by one of this chapter’s co-authors, Chris Taylor. Happy reading!
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Organizational Culture and Change: Making the Case for Inclusion
Written by Chris Taylor and Mischa Kegan
This chapter begins by nuancing the terms “diversity” and “inclusion.” Although used frequently and synonymously, they are separate, complex concepts. Diversity goes beyond its common usage of evoking “diversity of…” expertise or background on racial and ethnic lines. Diversity calls for disrupting and counteracting dominant and normative modes of thinking and working in museum organizational culture. This includes racial and ethnic forms of identity but also diversity based on gender, sexuality, ability, language, class, and more. It is also important to acknowledge that diversity is not a problem to be solved by filling demographic quotas and percentages; diversity means honoring and celebrating many ways of being, and creating spaces where people can engage as their full, authentic selves. Inclusion, is a process of actively and sincerely building multiple and various forms of access into the organizational culture. To work towards diversity and inclusion, it is important that simply invoking them through rhetoric is not enough. Museums need to acknowledge that as institutions, their systems are structured in oppressive and imbalanced dynamics of power—regardless of whether or not there was any intention to do so. Our museums carry origins and legacies of White Supremacy and multiple forms of oppression that must be identified and countered. Oftentimes these forms of oppression and privilege prevalent in museums cannot be detected without critical literacy and training. It is therefore important for museums to invest in, and trust, a dedicated core of staff or consultants whose responsibility is to work towards inclusive, organizational change and transformation.
This week’s downloads and link:
Facilitation Outline 3a; Facilitation Outline 3b
Chapter 3 Tweetchat will be held Monday 05/27
the incluseum 
I really appreciated this, but I would have loved some attention to how these change theories apply to smaller museums. I’m at a medium-sized one, but a lot of what was recommended at the end of the chapter seems primarily applicable to institutions employing hundreds rather than tens of people.