Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries: Labour History and Museum Studies

Abstract

The idea for examining ways in which working culture is or is not interpreted in Australian museums and galleries arose out of the perceived absence of such material among labour history sources. Attempts to find this type of critique for teaching undergraduate students in a Cultural Heritage Studies course at Curtin University and involvement in a campaign to establish a rail heritage centre on the Westrail Workshops site at Midland, WA, were motivators. We were interested in crossing disciplinary boundaries between labour history and museum studies to ascertain the extent to which other scholars had considered the interpretation of working culture in a museum or gallery setting.