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Atlas systematically recruited and trained global think tank entrepreneurs

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tagsja-picks, addendum, factual_claims, trade, singleton, xref, category/factual-claims
aliases@philip_mirowski_nine_2020, loc. 566

3 min read

Atlas systematically recruited and trained global think tank entrepreneurs

Evidence

As the Atlas organizational network expanded, the search for and development of motivated champions could no longer be accommodated by occasional field trips and targeted workshops. Atlas hence fostered the systematic formalization, organization, and branding of its outreach efforts. With a view to systematize and formalize its outreach and scouting efforts, it also created the Atlas International Freedom Corps (IFC) in 2003, as “the free market alternative to Peace Corps.” Through the discovery arm of IFC, Atlas dispatched senior members of the network to “scout for intellectual entrepreneurs in difficult parts of the world.” The potential “freedom fighters” thus identified could be invited to Atlas, as part of IFC’s visiting fellow arm. The fellowships, from several weeks to a few months, allowed newcomers to “learn about think tanks,” prepare for their think tank entrepreneur role and develop a sense of belonging to the Atlas “family.” The fellows then often became themselves effective “scouts.” In the first half of 2000s, Atlas financed five missionary trips to Asia and Africa and hosted thirty-three visiting fellows from Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. These efforts accelerated the expansion of the network and fostered the integration of a core of connected think tanks across different regions of the world. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 566

Categorization

  • ADDENDUM: Connects to the reading about how institutions manufacture consent; the IFC as a ‘peace corps for free markets’ shows deliberate pipeline-building analogous to the grafting metaphor’s cultivation logic.
  • XREF: connects to: A single foundation seeded a third of all market-oriented think tanks; Atlas emerged from the IEA as a deliberate global franchising of think tanks — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 542; Atlas served as the travel broker connecting freedom intellectuals to local think tanks — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 583 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

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