Saving the dangerous idea: austerity think tank networks in the European Union

Abstract

Austerity has become a key term in economic and social policy debates. Although austerity has been contested both in terms of economic theory and policy-making, it has been remarkably resilient. This resilience has been explained, for example, in structural and institutional terms by the rise of the ‘debt state’. Other explanations have emphasised the strength of austerity ideas rooted in ‘ordo-liberal’ economic theory. Following the insights of science technology scholarship and its emphasis on the social co-production of authoritative knowledge, this article proposes a stronger focus on organisations and their links across nation state borders for an explanation of the stability of austerity capitalism and the thinking underpinning it. The scrutiny of think tank networks, the article proposes, can help bridge the gap between ideational and structural explanations.