The ‘Milky Way’ of intermediary organisations: a transnational field of university governance

Abstract

This article focuses on transnational intermediary organizations in higher education and research. We conceive of intermediaries as organizations that are actively involved in transnational university governance without having formal access to or control over policy or governmental funding. Such intermediary organizations have in previous research been shown to play central roles in the development and circulation of new themes and ideas for how to manage universities and measure university performance. Intermediaries link different types of actors and act as translators of global themes. In this respect, they are decisive in policy formulation.

Tour guides and the transnational promotion of human rights: Agency, structure and norm translators in responsible travel

“…For those who do, Diem further responds by directing engagement towards reflection rather than confrontation. Diem’s strategies is consistent with the concept of norm translators, who control the flow of information to influence others (Golan and Orr, 2012; Merry, 2006b; Sahlin et al, 2015). By working to address sensitive topics via optional reflective private conversations, Diem is working to control the flow of information to avoid public expositions and encourage private reflections among tourists in his tour groups.…”

“…Furthermore, when visiting sites under government management, he told tour group members that visitation rules required site staff to deliver official government perspectives but that visitors were still free to exercise their independent critical analysis of the government narratives presented to them. Hence, similar to his approach with tourists, Diem’s strategies under the Vietnamese state demonstrate the agency of a norm translator in terms of control over the flow of information to influence the conduct of others vis-à-vis the Vietnamese state (Golan and Orr, 2012; Merry, 2006b; Sahlin et al, 2015).…”

“…As intermediaries, norm translators are individuals who ‘negotiate between local, regional, national, and global systems of meaning’ (Merry, 2006b: 39). Norm translators exert influence in discourses through control over information and access to networks of actors (Golan and Orr, 2012; Merry, 2006b; Sahlin et al, 2015). With respect to human rights, they ‘refashion global rights agendas for local contexts and reframe local grievances in terms of global human rights principles and activities’ (Merry, 2006b: 39) to advance international norms into local awareness and raise local issues in international consciousness (Merry, 2006a, 2006b).…”