1: PRECARITY

People. Change. Museums.

'Precarity' refers to the condition of being precarious - of being flexible, insecure, dependent, vulnerable and exposed. In 2020, the word 'precarity' couldn’t be more pertinent as we find ourselves and our museums in a variety of insecure, dependent, vulnerable and exposed states. At the same time, our world feels rife with precarity - we are in the middle of a global pandemic, of ongoing racial injustice, of spiralling inequality, of frustrations around access and inclusion, of anxieties over national borders - both real and imagined - and in a global climate emergency.

In this episode, we will hear how ‘precarity’ is a complicated term when it comes to museums and technology. Sara Snyder, Smithsonian American Art Museum (US), Dr Oonagh Murphy, Goldsmiths' College (UK), Ed Rodley, freelance experience designer and museum professional (US) and Blaire Moskowitz, PhD candidate and museum professional (US/UK) join Sophie to discuss how they are each contemplating what 'precarity' means for our individual and collective futures.

In 1976, that Welsh cultural theorist Raymond Williams wrote ‘Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society,’ a book examining over 100 ‘keywords’, that explored the fierce political struggles that often underpinned their adoption in everyday conversation. Inspired by Williams, each episode of People. Change. Museums. takes a different ‘keyword’ as its focal point, with each one capturing an aspect of work in museums today. Through these ‘keywords’ we will explore how digital technology is changing the way we experience and understand our culture and heritage - thus paving the way for new forms of social justice.