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