ABSTRACT
There seems to be no precedent for a democratic and grassroots approach to the development of think tanks, whether to elicit participation and input from a mass of citizens or to support and stimulate more informed inquiry and participation by a large number of citizens. Even when “experts” are not limited by a narrow ideological commitment nor by self-serving (e.g., corporate) interests, they are still limited by virtue of their professional education, privileged life experiences, and perspectives. In line with the values and qualities of transformative action research, I believe that developing community-based think tanks is one good strategy for encouraging more broad-based and more informed citizen participation in inquiry and advocacy. More engaged collaboration and ongoing dialogue among a variety of groups of people is needed to create a democratic society. Collaboration out of mutual respect and a shared enthusiasm for curiosity, can help us to learn from the knowledge that others have, that we all have, so that we can broaden our knowledgebase. A more inclusive knowledgebase is a stronger foundation for problem-solving and for envisioning better alternatives.
