[Personal_archives] A turning point?

[Martha Langford]

The introduction of postmortem photographs and all the immensely useful 
recommendation from the literature have nevertheless made us all a bit 
thoughtful. The week will end before we sort out the ethics of these 
matters - our conversation will be over.

So I want to pick up on the disciplinary point about sociologists having 
a more developed theory on the public uses of taboo or potentially 
hurtful material. The social scientists have led the way, it seems to 
me, toward more self-reflexive practices. Everything I've read here so 
far suggests that archivists and art historians are doing their best to 
be both sensitive and reflexive in their work. How do we communicate 
these ideas to emergent researchers, whether in the archives or in the 
classroom? I have my strategies, but I was hoping to hear from you, 
because these ideas need constant refreshment, or they turn in on 
themselves and cease to be productive.

So: reflexivity...how's it going?

Martha