The think tank originated as a deliberate instrument of intellectual engineering
Evidence
As several contributions to this volume explain, an important innovation was the think tank. The prototype for this new instrument of intellectual engineering was the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), established in 1946. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1910
Categorization
- DEFINE: Frames the think tank itself as an invented technology for shifting the opinion climate — a category definition.
- XREF: connects to: Atlas incubated think tanks by identifying and financing local individuals — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 572; Neoliberal think tanks were standardized through explicit managerial blueprinting — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 580; Google funds think tanks to shape policy narratives in its favor — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 401 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- As academia grew critical, think tanks filled the role of supplying empire with theory.
#expands(0.85) - Think tanks arose to replace critical scholars with imperial-friendly policy theory
#expands(0.85) - Think tanks function as elite proxy agents producing donor-favored analysis for media visibility.
#expands(0.80) - Partisan think tanks converted neoliberal philosophy into practical political tools.
#exemplifies(0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1912 - Neoliberal intellectuals formed a thought collective as a unit
#exemplifies(0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 10