Who really runs Australia?
Friday 03 February 2012LIST OVERVIEW
The Thinkers Top 10
Tom Cowie
Monday, 23 January 2012
Listing the country’s most powerful intellectuals is fraught with danger. How do you separate one thinker from another in such a broad field? Does it go to the most widely-published? The most recognisable? The one with the highest IQ?
And there’s an extra ingredient that needs to be considered: the most effective, and powerful, intellectuals aren’t just thinkers. They’re agenda setters as well.
While they don’t necessarily possess power themselves, their ideas can influence – or be championed by – the people that do.
That’s not to say we haven’t put any old culture warriors on the Thinkers Power List (we’ve definitely picked some of those). And we’ve certainly chosen people who’ve been published widely (or at least their ideas have).
So where is the battle of ideas being fought? Well, we’re talking climate change, indigenous rights, gender equality, health reform, key diplomatic ties, the role of government and the future of the media.
And despite often disagreeing with each other, most of our key thinkers have the same qualities: they’re so passionate about their field that they’re willing to use academic rigour, a forensic nature and a way with words to influence the national debate.
Oh, and all of them reckon their ideas are the most important…
