Space invading at the museum

Nirmal Puwar’s ‘space invaders’ thesis has endured as both an analytical framework and as a tool for feminist organising. In the museum sector, it has been embraced by networks of women and people of colour seeking to address workplace exclusion and marginalisation. This article explores the persistence of the ‘somatic norm of influence and power’ and ‘conditions of (im)possibility’ identified by Puwar in that context, drawing on interview, survey and ethnographic data collected 2018–2022 with women who work in UK museums. It explains how gender, race and class continue to shape everyday working practices and pathways into leadership, while elucidating past and potential future strategies deployed by workers seeking institutional change – including through space invading. Continuing in Puwar’s vein, this article intends to contribute to scholarly debate while also proving useful to ‘space invaders’ themselves. Informed by feminist praxis, it foregrounds interlocutors’ own analysis and critique. It is organised into three sections. The first explains how expectations of the Museum Director as necessarily white, male and upper class impact those who do not fit that somatic norm. The second traces how women have organised to crack features of a still-dominant imaginary while breaking into senior roles. While workforce demographics have shifted, framings of the sector as ‘feminised’ have emerged. Gendered ‘scripts’, or behavioural traits, associated with leadership have only been partially challenged. The third section explores how neoliberal ideology and austerity measures have altered conditions of (im)possibility within the sector. It argues that framings of ‘resilience’ as necessary for institutional survival and professional success have obscured the operational force of whiteness, masculinity and wealth in establishing routes to career success. The article concludes by suggesting that networks of collective action and solidarity remain essential, if ‘space invading’ is to continue being a productive act of dissent.