Journal of Social Science and Human Research Studies (JSSHRS) · Research article · Open access
Museums and Social Cohesion: An Integrative Review of Concepts, Evidence and Measurement
Mie Al-Missned
22 October 2026 · Vol. 2, Issue 10, pp. 1874-1878
DOI: 10.65150/EP-jsshrs/V2E10/2026-09 (registration with Crossref in progress)
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What is this article about?
Museums across the world increasingly justify their public funding through claims to social benefit, and social cohesion has become one of the most frequently invoked of those benefits. This article reviews the international research literature on museums and social cohesion in order to establish what the literature claims, through what mechanisms museums are held to build cohesion, and how strong the supporting evidence is.
Article at a glance
- Published
- 22 October 2026
- Volume / issue / pages
- Vol. 2, Issue 10, pp. 1874-1878
- ISSN
- 3051-3561 (online) · 3051-3553 (print)
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0 — free to read and reuse with attribution
- Peer review
- Double-blind, at least two independent reviewers
- Publisher
- EP Journals Group
Abstract
Museums across the world increasingly justify their public funding through claims to social benefit, and social cohesion has become one of the most frequently invoked of those benefits. This article reviews the international research literature on museums and social cohesion in order to establish what the literature claims, through what mechanisms museums are held to build cohesion, and how strong the supporting evidence is. An integrative review of scholarship published between 1990 and 2024 identifies four thematic strands: representation and recognition, in which museums include marginalised groups in public narratives; participation and social capital, in which museum programmes build networks and trust; health and wellbeing, in which museum-based interventions reduce social isolation; and policy frameworks, in which international instruments formalise the museum’s social role. The article contends that the literature demonstrates consistent small-scale effects while leaving the central claim undertested, because social cohesion is defined at the level of societies yet measured at the level of programmes and individuals. This mismatch of scale, rather than any absence of effect, constitutes the principal gap in the field. The review closes with an agenda for research that is longitudinal, comparative and geographically broader than the United Kingdom, North America and Western Europe, where the existing evidence is concentrated.
Keywords: museums, social cohesion, social inclusion, social capital, cultural participation, wellbeing, museum studies
Cite this article
Mie Al-Missned (2026). Museums and Social Cohesion: An Integrative Review of Concepts, Evidence and Measurement. Journal of Social Science and Human Research Studies, 2(10), 1874-1878. https://www.ep-journals.org/articles/museums-and-social-cohesion-an-integrative-review-of-concepts-evidence-4163b9f8
@article{Mie2026,
title = {Museums and Social Cohesion: An Integrative Review of Concepts, Evidence and Measurement},
author = {Mie Al-Missned},
journal = {Journal of Social Science and Human Research Studies},
year = {2026},
volume = {2},
number = {10},
pages = {1874-1878},
url = {https://www.ep-journals.org/articles/museums-and-social-cohesion-an-integrative-review-of-concepts-evidence-4163b9f8}
}Questions about this article
Who wrote this article?
Mie Al-Missned.
Where and when was it published?
In Journal of Social Science and Human Research Studies, Volume 2, Issue 10, pages 1874-1878, published by EP Journals Group on 22 October 2026.
Is this article free to read?
Yes. It is open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) licence, so anyone can read, share and reuse it with attribution.
What is the DOI of this article?
10.65150/EP-jsshrs/V2E10/2026-09. Registration with Crossref is in progress.
How do I cite this article?
APA: Mie Al-Missned (2026). Museums and Social Cohesion: An Integrative Review of Concepts, Evidence and Measurement. Journal of Social Science and Human Research Studies, 2(10), 1874-1878. https://www.ep-journals.org/articles/museums-and-social-cohesion-an-integrative-review-of-concepts-evidence-4163b9f8
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