This paper expands the discussion of knowledge brokerage by connecting it to long-standing debates within the social sciences about the effective transmission of scientifically produced knowledge into the worlds of policy and practice. This longer-term perspective raises some different questions about intermediary roles which are then tested against quantitative data on the attitudes of the producers of social science knowledge and some in-depth qualitative information about the use of social science knowledge by a select number of policy actors. The paper concludes with some proposals for the reconceptualisation of knowledge brokerage as one set of contributions within a larger knowledge market.