Purpose This article examines how “neutrality” has been challenged in the research literature on libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs) over the past ca. 25 years. The concept of neutrality shapes our expectations of LAMs as crucial institutions in modern liberal Western democracies, which have played a key role in shaping both our identities and our options for agency as individuals and as a society. Design/methodology/approach The analysis involves 20–30 articles in each domain (libraries, archives and museums). The articles have been examined using both AI and close readings. The primary empirical material consists of Anglo-American LAM research. The chosen timespan covers a period of significant change driven by increased digitalization, the climate crisis, rising migration and the emergence of new radical political movements. Findings Although some in the library research associate neutrality with intellectual freedom, the prevailing view, including among archive and museum scholars, dismisses neutrality as a myth that conceals underlying power dynamics. The rejection of neutrality has accompanied new professional ideals such as activism, community engagement and social justice. Originality/value This is the first comprehensive study to show that neutrality is a debated idea in recent research. While the critique of neutrality is a common concern across the LAM literature, responses to it – especially from the perspectives of social justice and activism – vary in both focus and approach.
Kann-Rasmussen et al. (Wed,) studied this question.