Books | Museums and Societal Collapse: The Museum as Lifeboat, by Robert Janes

The author of Museums and Societal Collapse, Robert Janes, sets out his aims clearly in the introduction: “The purpose of this book is to introduce the museum community to threat of societal collapse by initiating a frank and constructive conversation about the perils of the future, as well as the roles and responsibilities of museums.”

Janes, who lives in Alberta, Canada, has had a long career as a museum director, museologist, archaeologist and ethnographer. He has a reputation for thinking deeply about the purpose of museums and the value they offer society. His previous books include Museums in a Troubled World and Museum Activism. The latter was written with Richard Sandell from the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, where Janes is a visiting research fellow.

The first three chapters of this book describe some of the signs that are telling us societal collapse is a real and pressing danger. This is largely down to the way our societies are structured, with their emphasis on economic growth whatever the impact on the environment, as well as wealth inequality across the globe. For Janes, this is the result of corporate deceit and political incompetence.

He goes on to examine what societal collapse might look like and how the human race might respond. In Janes’s view, sustainability and sustainable development are not among the solutions. He describes these as falsehoods because of their link to economic growth, which creates greenhouse emissions and environmental harm.

With the dangers of societal collapse set out, chapter four asks the seemingly straightforward question: Why museums?

 With such a complex picture painted in previous chapters, readers might well ask themselves the same thing. But Janes argues that museums have a number of inherent strengths that will allow them to reimagine society and help us transition to a new way of living: they are grounded in communities and place; bear witness to the past; make learning accessible; and can be a bridge between nature and culture, science and humanities. Also, many people view museums as trusted civil institutions and, as such, they can foster public support for decisive action and change.

However, Janes also outlines factors that might prevent museums playing an active role in addressing the challenges we face. Most relate to the fact that the visions, missions and values of institutions are not fit for purpose. He argues courage, conviction and imagination are required in areas such as funding and in thinking about the relationship that museums have with the private sector. And he believes the sector has an ethical obligation to be a force for good, a theme that runs through much of his work.

This book is not just theoretical, however. While arguing that fundamental change is needed, Janes also highlights good practice in the global museum community. Examples include the Canadian Museum of Nature, which was one of the first North American institutions to support an international campaign to protect biodiversity. In the UK, the Museums Association’s Museums for Climate Justice campaign is namechecked.

In the fifth chapter, Janes acknowledges the enormity of the planetary plight and the fact that museums are not going to fix the crisis. But he uses the metaphor of the museum as a lifeboat to argue that our institutions should be ready to assist people who feel confused and in need of knowledge “as collapse threatens”. He says that “the museum as lifeboat is
a singular alternative to irrelevance and decline”.

So, this book is not just about raising awareness; it is an urgent call to action. As Janes concludes, the situation may look hopeless, but that does not mean we are helpless. In fact, he argues that vision and courage, not hope, are what is needed for museums to make change.