2015/03/19 by Ian G. Baird, Baird, Ian G.
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · Environmental Science · #Management and Organizational Studies #Social Science and Policy Research #Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
paper · doi:10.14288/acme.v13i4.1033
I once heard that a rural farmer in northeastern Thailand who opposed the construction of the Pak Mun hydropower dam had lamented—out of frustration with the project moving ahead—that, “The World Bank never believes any information that it has not paid for.” His intention was to strongly critique the Bank for only myopically paying attention to knowledge it paid for. It could be argued, however, that the comment implies that the best way to influence policy is to work for—or at least closely with—institutions like the World Bank to produce knowledge that might be taken more seriously. Indeed, some academic political ecologists engage outside of academia for advocacy purposes, often through entering into various types of consulting arrangements (see Blaikie, 2008; 2012: Rocheleau, 2008; Walker, 2006). Academics pursue these opportunities partially because they perceive that doing so can help influence important institutions and policy debates, but also frequently due to these arrangements being well paid. Thus, political ecologists have often been critical of “applied development