ABSTRACT Public participation has become axiomatic in contemporary museum theory and practice. In the absence of consensus about the fundamental principles of participatory museology and what participation looks like in practice, the term is now routinely attached to a heterogenous array of museum-stakeholder interactions. This article interrogates the rhetoric of participatory museology by critically examining its intellectual roots, followed by a preliminary review of contemporary museum policy and strategic documents from international and national cultural bodies to generate a typology of participation in the museum sector. Taking the findings into account, this article questions whether New Museology’s desire to empower visitors is genuinely realised through participatory practices. It concludes by outlining future research directions that may contribute to greater understanding of the political and practical implications of audience participation in the museum context.

中文翻译：

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策划好的参与者？当代博物馆的观众、民主和权威

摘要 公众参与已成为当代博物馆理论和实践的公理。由于对参与式博物馆学的基本原则以及实践中的参与方式缺乏共识，该术语现在通常被附加到博物馆与利益相关者互动的异质阵列。本文通过批判性地审查其知识根源来质疑参与式博物馆学的修辞，然后对当代博物馆政策和国际和国家文化机构的战略文件进行初步审查，以生成博物馆部门参与的类型学。考虑到这些发现，本文质疑新博物馆学赋予参观者权力的愿望是否通过参与性实践真正实现。