Foucault and museum geographies: a case study of the English ‘Renaissance in the Regions’

Abstract

This paper explores the subject of museum geographies, focusing particularly on the development of museum policies in a changing political context. The empirical focus is the emergence and transformation of the museum programme Renaissance in the Region, which is linked to the concepts of primary, secondary and tertiary spatialisations presented by Michel Foucault. The paper discusses the development of the programme and how it transformed aspects of the primary, secondary and tertiary spatialisations of museums in England, before focusing attention on the geography of school visits to museums. The results of two extensive studies of school visits to museums in the programme suggest that large numbers of visits come from schools located in areas with high indices of multiple deprivation and income deprivation affecting children. It is argued that this social geography reflects the tertiary spatialisation of museums linked to their emergence in areas of past industrial development, although practices linked to reconfigurations of the primary and secondary spatialisation as part of the Renaissance in the Regions programme may also have played some role. The paper concludes by discussing recent changes in government policy and the degree to which the 'New Renaissance' policy may signify reductions in the social reach of museums into areas of social deprivation and exclusion.Keywords: museum geographies; Foucault; spatialisations; Renaissance in the Regions; social inclusion; deprivation Foucault et les géographies du musée: cas d'étude de la « Renaissance dans les régions » anglaise Cet article explore le sujet des géographies du musée, en mettant particulièrement l'accent sur le développement des politiques de musée dans un contexte politique changeant. L'accent empirique est mis sur l'émergence et la transformation du programme de musée Renaissance dans la Région, qui est lié aux concepts de spatialisations primaire, secondaire et tertiaire, présentés par Michel Foucault. Cet article discute du développement du programme et de la fac on dont il a transformé les aspects de spatialisation primaire, secondaire et tertiaire de musées en Angleterre, avant de se concentrer sur la géographie de visites scolaires dans les musées. Les résultats de deux études importantes de visites scolaires de musées dans le programme suggèrent que de grands nombres de visites viennent d'écoles situées dans des zones aux indices de privations et de manque de revenus élevés affectant les enfants. Il est *Corresponding author. Email: mpp2@le.ac.uk Social & Cultural Geography, 2015 Vol. 16, No. 7, 730-763, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2015 argué que cette géographie sociale reflète la spatialisation tertiaire des musées liée à leur émergence dans les secteurs d'ancien développement industriel, bien que les pratiques liées aux reconfiguations de spatialisation primaire et secondaire en tant que programme de Renaissance des Régions aient aussi pu jouer un certain rôle. L'article conclut en discutant des changements récents en politique...

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