The politics of cultural policy

Schlesinger, P. (2009) The politics of cultural policy. Litteraria Pragensia: Studies in Literature and Culture, 19(38), pp. 75-89.

Abstract

This article addresses the roles of intellectuals in the shaping of cultural policy. Three distinct but interrelated political levels are discussed: the EU, the UK as a member state and Scotland as a stateless nation. The cultural and political space of the European Union is contradictory: it has a cultural presence but member states have full cultural competence. The EU’s public sphere is fragmented, poised between regulation and federation. The member state therefore remains the principal focus for analysis of cultural policy debates. Next, a variety of theoretical positions on the intellectuals and the strategic uses of expertise in a ‘knowledge society’ is explored, illustrating how the cultural policy field is typically constituted. The article goes on to discuss how intellectuals in the UK have shaped government policy on the ‘creative economy’, underlining the importance of a New Labour ‘policy generation’ in taking ideas forward that have been globally influential as well as in Scotland. A discussion of stateless nationhood is the backdrop to showing how the Nationalists in power inherited their Labour-LibDem predecessors’ approach to developing a new cultural institution, Creative Scotland. This underlines Scotland’s deep policy dependency on creative economy ideas fashioned in London.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Schlesinger, Professor Philip
• Authors: Schlesinger, P.
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Theatre Film and TV Studies
• Journal Name: Litteraria Pragensia: Studies in Literature and Culture
• Publisher: Charles University, Prague
• ISSN: 0862-8424
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2009 Charles University
• First Published: First published in Litteraria Pragensia: Studies in Literature and Culture 19(38)
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced with the permission of the publisher

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
44724	1	Creativity - policy and practice. A study of government, the BBC and UK Film Council	Philip Schlesinger	Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)	112152/1	CCA - THEATRE FILM AND TV STUDIES