How Thinking Takes Place in Think Tanks

This chapter discusses relevant literature on think tanks and intellectuals, with two main objectives. Firstly, it seeks to advance current theories on think tanks, especially in conversation with three approaches: Thomas Medvetz’s Bourdieusian framework; the sociology of intellectuals and knowledge; and Neoinstitutionalism. Secondly, based on the above, this chapter introduces the research methodology employed throughout the rest of this book, which analyses think tanks through their public interventions. By following these interventions, the book traces how a think tank’s narrative of events vary across time and within the organisation, in the context of a rapidly shifting policy debate.