Museums, in general terms, represent collective apparatuses for the construction of representation and discourse regimes (Paul B. Preciado in Peio H. Riaño, 2018) that reproduce hegemonic power. In addition, they are essentially valuable for generating recognition and identity. However, by recognizing and affirming particular identities they omit ‘to recognize and affirm others’ (MacDonald, 2016: 4). Since the cultural turn, Museum studies have produced significant findings on the relationship between museums, power and exclusion (i.e., Macdonald, Bennett, Duncan, Hooper-Greenfield). This thesis proposes an initial exploratory research of museums as a space of opportunity for communication for social change in the Spanish case. Moreover, the researcher has produced a web documentary called Museo Frontera (Border Museum in English) from the data and outcomes resulting from the analysis and the participants’ inputs: https://www.museofrontera.es/en/

After a brief introduction on the degree project, the literature review posits a summary of the relation between museum origins, museum studies and communication for social change. Subsequently, it presents a theoretical framework problematizing the importance of intersectionality in the analysis of the relation between power and knowledge, and the researcher’s stance regarding the analysis of museum studies. Lastly, it presents the methodology, the data analysis and the conclusions. 

The research has elucidated how, even if these questions are far too complex for a 15 credit degree project, they open a path for future studies on how museums carry substantial conceptual burdens and pose a strong opportunity as a shared space to learn to shape the past, the present and the future. 

This thesis informed the researcher’s PhD candidature to develop a mobile application prototype that encourages citizen dialogue on harmful forms of representation in the museum.