Reflections from the world of policy-related research; Think tanks and cultural diversity – between theory and practice

In the current context of increased interactions with multiple mobilities, the acceleration of communication and the permeability of cultural borders multiply the benchmarks for people, ideas and discourses. It changes communication, ways to mobilize public opinion and mechanisms of dissemination and influence to situate action and reaction, senses of belongings and ruptures, trends and counter-trends. Making the connection between idea-makers and decision-makers, between theory and practice, is the aim of think tanks, those laboratories of ideas at the service of society. How can we link the social fabric with research and political actions? How can we avoid distrust with the necessary marketing of proposals and conclusions certified by think tanks to get the media’s attention? Discourses connect ideas with people, and in the time of global processes they have to be analysed through an interdisciplinary perspective in order to question the theory and the practice, the contexts and the flows. Think tanks can be the mediators for the renewal and transnationalization of research with the participation of social actors – professionals of justice, communication and young researchers – in parallel processes that are mutually influenced. This research/action raises the existence of an excessive usage of ‘containers’ concept in discourses, in which anything that creates incertitude can fit. In this way, the discourse related to migration has to be renovated and renewed. Words such as difference, identity and diversity can describe migration either as a problem or a solution, but always highlight it as being ab-normal and as being a global reaction to new realities. How can we imagine scenarios for action in which we all can move in one social framework beyond nacional boudearies? This article questions the role of think tanks from a reality in which a variety of opinions, perspectives and practices exist without coinciding in one single analysis.