Some reflections on the ‘policy moment’

ABSTRACT

The widespread focus on policy moments in Australian cultural, academic and political debates is discussed, also describing the processes of policy formation. The narrowing gap between ‘unattached’ intellectuals and academics or cultural critics and ‘bureaucratic’ intellectuals in their participation in policy formation is considered unnecessary and ineffective.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural criticism
• cultural studies
• policy

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Bennett’s subsequent retraction of the statement indicated that he considered the case had been inappropriately stated.

2. This may have to do with a hangover from an earlier Althusserian phased tinged with the history and philosophy of science of Ian Hacking. See Hacking’s (1983, 210–219) Representing and Influencing.

3. I have been an open advocate of these concepts since the early 1980s. See Writing on Australian Film History (O’Regan 1984) for an application of these notions to Australian film.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tom O’Regan

Tom O’Regan (1956–2020) was a key scholar and mentor in the development of media and cultural studies in Australia. Professor O’Regan was widely published in the field. Professor O’Regan also co-founded Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies with Brian Shoesmith in 1987, and remained its editor until 1994.