Reflections on Socially Engaged History

Persinger, Cindy

This brief chapter provides general observations on common features of socially engaged art history as they emerge in the book Socially Engaged Art History and Beyond: Alternatives Approaches to the Theory and Practice of Art History. Socially engaged art history is described as an art history that is produced collaboratively within and between social groups over an extended period of time that seeks to engender a productive dialogue regarding issues and topics of concern, be they social, political, cultural, environmental, or otherwise, and to foster resilient and sustainable communities. In virtue of its modes of operation and the interests of its practitioners, it tends to address difference, division, and inequality in society. It suggests that the over-arching motivation for practicing an art history that is socially engaged is ethical.