We invite abstracts for academic papers that comply with the content of the following panel proposal. The selected abstracts will be included in an application for a “border-crossing panel” at the ICAS/AAS Annual Meeting in Honolulu/Hawaii from March 31 to April 3, 2011.
Please submit your abstract to the contact address below until August 1, 2010. Abstracts should not exceed 250 words.
Contact Address:
Heidelberg University
Institute of Sociology
Prof. Dr. Thomas Kern
Alexander Ruser
alexander.ruser@soziologie.uni-heidelberg.de
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The Rising Influence of Think Tanks in North and South East Asia: Carving out a New Area for Research Over the past two decades, think tanks have established themselves as a central link between the scientific community and the political and economic establishment in East Asia.
According to U.S. studies, more than 50 percent of existing think tanks were established after 1980. About two thirds are located in Western Europe and North America whereas almost 12 percent operate in East Asia. For the purpose of this panel, we use the term “think tank” in a very broad manner that includes political, economic, and civic organizations. In relevant literature, basically two types of thinks tanks are distinguished, with the first type being committed to the principles of impartial and independent scientific analysis (”universities without students”). The second type is concerned with the promotion and circulation of specific political and ideological ideas (”advocacy think tanks”). Although it is impossible to differentiate clearly between “indifferent interest” (Bourdieu 1998) and academic lobbying for specific purposes, both dimensions delimit the intellectual field in which think tanks operate as intermediary agents between the scientific community, political decision-makers, and economic elites. While a considerable number of publications have explored the activities of think tanks in the United States and Western Europe, research has to yet examine the cultural, political, and economic influence of think tanks in East Asia. Against this backdrop, our panel attempts to shed light on the role of think tanks in North and South East Asia: What are their political and economic goals? How are they organized? How do they link the political, economic, and scientific communities? How do they mobilize their resources? With whom are they cooperating and in what fashion? Do they maintain any links across national borders?
We invite all papers that address these and other questions related to think tanks in North and South East Asia.
