Ontologies of technocracy: actors, institutional structures or governmentality??

I will present a literature review which maps and clarifies the conceptual landscape of technocracy. My review examines how the concept is defined, where it is situated, and how its ¡®triggers¡¯ are understood. Three main ontological approaches can be derived from the literature: (1) Technocracy as actors with specific educational backgrounds, mentalities and behaviors, located in cabinets or ministries, often emerging in times of crisis or when political trust is low. (2) Technocracy as an institutional mechanism of depoliticization by (in)formal shifts in power, located in non-majoritarian institutions (e.g. central banks, international organizations), driven by globalization, economic crises and centralization processes. (3) Technocracy as a culture, logic or governing rationality that is ideational in origin, and is located in discourse, policy paradigms or practices, and shaped by socio-historical developments such as modernization and industrialization. In my presentation, I will also outline initial ideas for a research agenda, along with directions for my own future work.