Critical perspectives on think tanks: Power, politics and knowledge. Julien Landry Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021. 256 pages. Hardback. £90.00. ISBN: 9781789909227

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Christopher Robertson
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2790

BOOK REVIEW

Critical perspectives on think tanks: Power, politics and

knowledge

Edited by Julien Landry

Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021. 256 pages. Hardback. £90.00. ISBN: 9781789909227

Critical perspectives on think tanks is a well-compiled collection that

attempts to critically develop scholarship on think tanks internation-

ally. With four parts and twelve chapters, this volume explores numer-

ous interdependent themes, from the intellectual development of

power, to the potentially emancipatory or restrictive capacity of think

tanks in democratic life, to the role of think tanks in knowledge pro-

duction, whether beneficial or corrosive to democratic discourses.

Chapter 1, written by the book's editor, Julien Landry, provides

an introduction and justification for the critical study of think tanks. It

is argued that critical think tank studies attempt to understand the

role of think tanks in relation to power, knowledge-creation, and their

role in political and policy processes. Think tanks are labelled as multi-

plex entities, often viewed as synonymous with consultancies,

research centres or other policy actors. Yet, as a point of departure,

the hybridity of think tanks is noted. This alludes to subsequent chap-

ters which rightly assert the ambiguity of think tanks, but also their

almost shapeshifting capacity, where the role and function of think

tanks are often determined by national context, or diverse funding,

access capabilities, or ideological agendas. By introducing the com-

plexity of think tanks, the introduction sets the scene for part 1: think

tanks and the transformation of policy expertise.

Part 1 begins with Guillaume Lamy, through a macro-historical

approach, tracking the history of political intellectuals, from the Men-

dicant Orders of the 13th century, political parties of the 19th cen-

tury, and the development of specialist intellectuals, including

advocacy tanks, from the 1970s. The crux of this chapter is that advo-

cacy tanks play a unique, contextually-attributed role in institutionaliz-

ing political narratives, exogenous to political parties. Whilst

distinguishable from previous epochs, think tanks are unified in their

intellectual terrain by sharing commonalities, such as attempting to

market the effectiveness of their political ideas, and provide a credible

vehicle to present these discourses. In doing so, this chapter provides

the reader with an understanding of how the selling of political ideas

has developed over time, and how think tanks are but a contemporary

development in the continually-present political ecosystem of selling

unique political ideas.

Chapter 3 by Matthias Kipping then focuses upon the develop-

ment of consultancy think tanks, where management consultancy has

historically rarely interacted with academic literature on think tanks. It

is argued that consulting and think tanks, often perceived to be syn-

onymous, are separate entities, where consultancies mimic think

tanks. However, Kipping writes this piece in a tentative, cautionary

tone, recommending future research examining the relationship

between consultancy and think tanks.

Part II then commences, entitled ‘brokering access, marketing

knowledge.’Alejandra Salas-Porras begins by focusing upon think

tanks as potentially democratic agents in Mexico, arguing that Mexi-

can think tanks possess unique capacity to influence policy agendas

due to their high-level of organizational resources. This chapter

attempts to locate this influence by focusing upon whether Mexican

think tank communication strategies are ideologically and politically

motivated, and how these strategies differ dependent upon their per-

ceived audience. It is argued that ideological dispositions affect the

political communications of Mexican think tanks, and these think

tanks attempt to influence general public opinion, alongside specific

actors such as public officials. Underpinned by Bordieuan field theory,

this is an extremely detailed chapter that attempts to contribute to

the dearth of literature on think tanks and their potentially democratic

contributions to civil society. Indeed, it is found that different commu-

nication strategies can interpolate critical junctures such as the media

and civil society, which can politically and ideologically heighten the

salience of certain frames whilst downplaying others and influence

public opinion as a result. This is a particularly interesting chapter

which merits further academic attention upon areas such as educa-

tional, activist, and communication strategies of think tanks across

contexts.

Chapter 5 continues the theme of the marketing of knowledge,

with Thomas Alam providing an illuminating on-the-ground insight

into the ‘backstage’of policymaking and marketing in the Epode

European Network. The Epode Network, a European, food-industry

supported think tank, attempts to unravel how the orientations of

think tanks can often be attributed to their sponsors. For example,

Alam writes that Epode's framing of obesity affirms the agendas and

interests of its corporate sponsor, through recommending solutions

such as exercise, whilst downplaying the impact of strict levies and

regulation upon food products and their marketing strategies. This

Received: 27 October 2021 Accepted: 28 October 2021

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2790

J Public Affairs. 2022;22(Suppl. 1):e2790. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1of3

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2790