5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

As educational institutions and community hubs, museums play a significant role in generating counter-discourses. Since the 1990s, many migration museums have emerged worldwide. Migrants and their descendants have started collecting their memories and testimonies, challenging dominant national histories. Museums built and run by national or regional governments that display the history and realities of migrants also exist. These institutions are pivotal in preserving and disseminating these invaluable stories for generations to come. Some museums also function as community hubs—spaces that cultivate relationships among residents, museum staff, volunteers, and visitors.

The organizer expects participants to share their research on these diverse museums. Although movements to build migration museums have cooccurred in various areas, there is still diversity in their purposes, operating entities, and ways of displaying migrant culture and history. In conclusion, this session will underscore the significance of museums as platforms for cultural dialogue and the profound effect of migration stories on shaping our collective understanding of history and identity.