Think tanks and the right to education: the hidden players shaping education policy
Summary
Researcher Lucas Felicetti Rezende joins host Rabia Najm Khan, a PEHRC Fellow, on the second episode of the Public Education Now podcast to discuss his doctoral research on think tanks and the right to education in Brazil. He explains how such organisations go beyond producing knowledge to actively training political leaders and advancing pro-market agendas. Lucas also unpacks the different ways the right to education is understood, contrasting a human rights-based approach with the narrower, individualised conception promoted by these think tanks.
‘Public Education Now’ podcast episode two, ‘Think Tanks and the Right to Education: The hidden players shaping education policy’ with Lucas Felicetti Rezende.
The overlooked role of neoliberal think tanks
The existence of global networks of private and state actors who influence education policy has been explored by researchers such as Stephen Ball, Carolina Junemann, Diego Santorini and Marina Avelar. The varied actors in these networks, including businesses, consultancies and international organisations operate differently, but often share a common objective: promoting pro-market, neoliberal changes in education systems. They are also frequently united by a shared concept of education as a tool for human capital development, rather than education as a human right, which enables human dignity and social and political rights.
Among the actors in these networks, Lucas proposes that think tanks are under-researched, in part because their work is frequently “not in plain sight” and not as visible as that of large companies and international organisations. Referring to the work of the American sociologist Tomas Medvetz, Lucas further explains that think tanks work at the intersection of multiple fields: the media, academia, politics and economy, adopting approaches from each. Some think tanks even act in very similar ways to political parties. However, critically, they do not have the same obligations as political parties and thus can escape some forms of accountability.
Education policy in whose interest?
Lucas notes that think tanks’ agendas are largely shaped by those who fund them and the other actors with whom they are closely connected, including banks, financial institutions, and universities. Indeed, influential actors often achieve their own policy and political objectives through think tanks. A lack of transparency, however, means that it can be difficult to see the exact (financial) relationships at play and whose interests the think tank represents.
It is also important to note that many neoliberal think tanks are not independent entities. Instead, they are part of an expansive and well-established network of think tanks working to promote pro-market policies across the world.
How think tanks advance the pro-market education agenda
Think tanks are most often associated with producing knowledge, what Christopher Lubienski and his colleagues have termed ‘orchestrating knowledge’. This does not necessarily entail creating knowledge or undertaking research - it can mean presenting and re-packaging knowledge in ways that policymakers see as useful. However, think tanks often do much more. Lucas gives the example of a think tank in Brazil which “trains new political leaders” to succeed in elections, including how to present themselves and gain funding. These trained individuals are present from the municipal to the congressional level and are able to advance the think tank’s agenda from inside the government itself.
The many sides of the right to education
It is vital to understand what Lucas terms the “many layers” of the right to education - it is simultaneously a civil and political right and a social, economic and cultural right. These two types of rights usually work in different ways. Civil and political rights are usually seen as ‘negative rights’ - the state must not harm an individual’s fulfillment of these rights. By contrast, social and economic rights are positive rights - the state must promote and fulfill these rights for the population. As Lucas emphasises, “education fits in both categories…the state must not impose any threats for people to be educated, but the state has the obligation to promote people to be educated in free public systems”.
Think thanks’ narrow understanding of the right to education
In his research on think tanks in Brazil, Lucas found that they see education as a human right, but focus primarily on its role as civil and political right. While this is a key part of the right to education, the social, economic and cultural rights aspect is equally vital.
The think tanks view education largely as a process for developing the capabilities of individuals to build their own lives, rather than as a process through which individuals can become part of the wider world and society. In essence, their understanding of the right to education is closely tied to an individual's rights and personal freedoms. Accordingly, they emphasise the state’s primary role is to not harm or limit an individual’s educational choice. This overlooks the state’s duty to provide quality, free public education, which risks detrimental consequences for the broader right to education for all.
A call to more closely examine the influence of think tanks in education
Lucas explains that while think tanks may not be “structural actors for education policies”, as they do not own schools or create textbooks, they are nonetheless very powerful: “they are not just investing in education, they are totally changing the political process of how educational policies are made”. As a result, more research on think tanks’ activities is essential for the global defence of the right to education as both a civil and political right and a social, economic and cultural right.
To learn more about how think tanks are quietly influencing education policy in Brazil and beyond, you can listen to the full episode: “Think Tanks and the Right to Education: The hidden players shaping education policy” here.
Author: Public Education Now team
Biography: Public Education Now is a youth-led podcast hosted by PEHRC.
Views expressed in this blog are those of the author/s’ alone. Publication on this blog does not represent an endorsement by PEHRC of the opinions expressed.