Graduation Year
2023
Date of Submission
4-2023
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy
Reader 1
Rima Basu
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2023 Fangzhangyi Chen
Abstract
Museums are places where people come to make sense of their and others’ social experiences related to social identities. However, what if museums present a distorted picture containing prejudicial stereotypes that harm socially marginalized groups? In this thesis, I argue that museums are oppressive spaces that reinforce hermeneutical injustice as distorted hermeneutical resources shaped by the socially powerful to sustain the asymmetrical social dynamics at large. The primary objective of the thesis is to contribute to the existing literature of museums being oppressive spaces by offering a novel explanation utilizing Miranda Fricker’s framework of hermeneutical injustice. Hermeneutical injustice arises when one’s social experiences are obscured from the collective understanding as the hermeneutical resources contain structural identity prejudices owing to the asymmetrical social power dynamics at large. As a hermeneutical resource, a museum reinforces and sustains hermeneutical injustice, which ultimately contributes to social injustice more broadly.
Recommended Citation
Chen, Fangzhangyi, "Shaping Knowledge with Distortions: Museums as Oppressive Spaces and Hermeneutical Injustice" (2023). CMC Senior Theses. 3343.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3343
