Fostering tolerance through museums: assessing visitor engagement with historical analogies at three archaeological galleries in the UK

Abstract This study is the first to quantitatively investigate museum visitors’ perceptions of historical analogies that compare concepts from the deep past to modern political ideas. Specifically, we assess the capacity of heritage sites to influence visitors’ historical consciousness in ways that foster tolerance by exposing and challenging those analogies that feature in exclusive nationalist discourse. This is achieved by analysing the responses submitted by 803 visitors who engaged with the Tolerant Futures interactive, which was displayed in the archaeological galleries of three UK museums. Our findings show that visitors’ views did not align with the positions implied by the historical analogies used in exclusive nationalist discourse. By contrast, most participants held critical and non-binary understandings of the Iron Age and Roman past, as well as liberal values. We conclude that museums have a limited ability to attract adults with authoritarian views and to alter their beliefs. However, we propose that they could play a crucial role in activating intergenerational attitude change and tolerance through programmes aimed at promoting nuanced and non-binary interpretations of the ancient past among children. These results are significant for researchers and practitioners in heritage, museum studies, cultural sociology, psychology and cultural policy.