The Digitisation and Open Access Politics of Social Movement Archives

Abstract

Open Access to cultural heritage, also known as ‘Open Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums’ (Open GLAM), refers to a concept that asks heritage organisations to make, whenever legally possible, their digitised collections available online as open and interoperable data sets. So far, the discourse on Open Access to cultural heritage has primarily focussed on major art galleries. This thesis enriches the research and the discourse on Open Access to cultural heritage by focussing on the perspectives of organisations which understand archiving as a form of activism: Social Movement Archives. I ask: What does and what could Open Access to cultural heritage mean in the context of Social Movement Archives? Through Participatory Action Research (PAR) with the Marx Memorial Library London (MML), seven interviews with Social Movement Archives practitioners and a critical reading of the academic- and grey literature on Open GLAM, I investigate the digitisation and Open Access politics of Social Movement Archives, as crystallised in their missions, digitisation projects and ethical and legal practices. Crucially, I highlight the relevance of Social Movement Archives as sites for questioning and reflecting on institutionalised archival theory and praxis. This thesis offers a critical intervention in Open GLAM through the microcosm of Social Movement Archives. Throughout this thesis I demonstrate a certain, while not complete, incompatibility of Open GLAM with the political mandate of Social Movement Archives and the practical realities they operate in. I argue to move towards a social justice framework for Open Access to cultural heritage. The basis for the framework is an enhanced understanding of the archival principle of provenance, grounded in affective responsibilities towards collections’ stakeholders. Due to the recognition of digital archival collections as means for political action a social justice framework also assesses the positive and negative impact of Open Access in relation to social justice.