Academics as policy-makers: (not) researching tourism and events policy formation from the inside

摘要

Prompted by a period of five years as a non-executive director of a British regional tourist board, this paper examines the constraints faced by academics seeking to engage in critical policy research. It identifies three overlapping influences that serve to circumscribe critical comment. The first is that as universities become increasingly commercial in their orientation, often competing with consultants, a culture of collaboration can develop which encourages shared practices and perspectives. The need for teamwork, shared vision and 'not letting the side down' serves to limit or suppress some observations. The second is that universities often have a perceived common interest with city or regional policy-makers in promoting positive images of their locale. As a consequence, senior university managers can become part of informal coalitions of interest who may not welcome narratives that undermine prevailing official discourses. Academics, as workers, may feel inhibited from offering alternative perspectives. Finally, funded research requires the acceptance of certain frames of reference which are set, or accepted, by those commissioning the work. This inevitably limits the conceptual and methodological choices open to academics. The paper concludes by calling for a wider debate about the role of academics and their articulation with the policy-making community.