Detour or dead-end? Contemporary cultural theory and the search for new cultural policy models

Abstract

This paper considers whether contemporary cultural theory has been a fruitful detour in cultural policy terms, or whether it has proven to be something of a dead-end. Although the arcane nature of some cultural theory remains inimical to policy applications, I argue that this should not be allowed to obscure the continuing relevance of cultural theory for the future evolution of cultural policy. More significantly, however, I suggest that cultural theory may have much to learn from contemporary developments in cultural policy. Drawing on several examples from the cultural industries sector, I note the manner in which the more pragmatically-driven priorities of these cultural sites have resulted in outcomes--the "flattening" of cultural hierarchies and the challenging of dominant notions of canonicity--strikingly similar to the interventions of contemporary cultural theory. I suggest that these examples serve to indicate some interesting avenues for the development of new cultural policy models.