An account of the academic institutionalisationof cultural policy research. A Nordic perspective

Abstract

In this paper, I try to describe the main aspects of the international academic institutionalisation of cultural policy research since the 1990s. My focus is primarily Nordic and anglophone, without ignoring contributions from other countries/continents or linguistic/cultural regions. The introduction of – and increasing emphasis on – ‘peer review’ characterises this academic institutionalisation process, in general and in our field of research in particular. Since the 1990s, cultural policy scholars have developed several peer review-based research journals and conferences. Univer- sities and research institutes are also recruiting more Ph.D. students, researchers and/or teachers in this field of rese- arch through peer review selection than before. In this paper, I focus in particular on the creation of academic rese- arch journals and international conferences, without concealing that I have myself been an active agent in this same international academic institutionalisation process. My approach is historical/descriptive rather than sociological/ analytic.