Archival Objectivity: An Examination of Mark Greene's Article on the 'Critique of Social Justice as an Archival Imperative'

 Wallace, William A.

Greene, M. A. (2013). A critique of social justice as an archival imperative: What is it we're doing that's all that important? The American Archivist, 76(2), pp. 302-334.

Greene's article opposes recent scholarship regarding social justice as an ethical standard within archival practice. Countering other scholars, he argues that social justice has no place within an archive. He describes social justice as an act against the archivist's standard, objectivity. He acknowledges an archivist's freedoms to be a whistleblower, but says it is no different than the opportunity in any other information profession. He argues that private organizations have a right to privacy. 

I found this article to be informative as one side of archival ethics. Combined with other articles in the other direction, it lays out a good approach to the problem. I agree with his sentiments about the pursuit of objectivity despite its inherent impossibility at times. I also agree that the type of social justice he is describing does constitute an inherent bias that can damage a collection's reputation, depriving it of materials from all sides. All in all, this article gave me a lot to think about, and I recommend it to any aspiring archivist who is looking to learn more about archival ethics.