Pre-care-ity: locating museological care in the precarious work of independent museum contractors

Care is increasingly prevalent in museum studies scholarship as both a theoretical framework and an organizing principle for practice. While such scholarship often considers the experiences and behaviors of museum workers as agents and recipients of care, one category of museum worker is virtually absent from the conversation: independent contractors. Following Morse’s formulation of a logic of museological care for community engagement work and drawing on a series of interviews I conducted with non-fine arts museum workers in the U.S. between 2023 and 2024, I argue that independent contractors in museums necessarily operate according to a logic of museological “pre-care-ity” that interrupts their ability to perform, and experience, care in the museum.