Museums for Peace: Search of History, Memory, and Change

Coming from various cultural and professional backgrounds, the authors explore “what museums for peace and what do they mean?” Some chapters introduce alternative histories of peace, conflict, and memorialization. This innovative collection examines grassroots museums, military sexual slavery, historical memory in East Asia, and cultural heritage in the Africanized peace museum movement. The chapters discuss differing representations of Gandhi, technology of war and opposition to it, and structural violence such as racial terror and imperialism. Investigating how institutions interact with political and cultural forces, the volume demonstrates that some museums reinforce hegemonic narratives, while others resist authoritative tropes to reveal silenced histories, including peace histories. will appeal to academics and students in museum studies, heritage studies, peace studies, memory studies, social justice, and human rights. Those working in cultural studies and trauma studies will also find this volume valuable.