1. Introduction: the agency of the governed in transfer and diffusion studies Anke Draude2. Translation in motion: a concept's journey towards norm diffusion studies Anke Draude3. Linked in translation: international donors and local fieldworkers as translators of global norms Tobias Berger4. Creating room for manoeuvre: domestic repertoires of action in international post-war interventions Sina Birkholz, Tilmann Scherf and Ursula C. Schroeder5. Resistance to international democracy promotion in Morocco and Tunisia Vera van Hullen6. Norm appropriation through policy production: Rwanda's gender policies Jenny Lorentzen7. Women's rights norms as content-in-motion and incomplete practice Susanne Zwingel8. Unlocking the agency of the governed: contestation and norm dynamics Lisbeth Zimmermann, Nicole Deitelhoff and Max Lesch9. Agency of the governed in global international relations: access to norm validation Antje Wiener

Research on global norm diffusion and institutional transfer has often neglected the agency of the governed. This collection argues that limited statehood - the lack of state capacities in most parts of the global South - provides opportunities for the governed to raise their voices and be listened to. Thus, people on the receiving end of development cooperation, state building, or security interventions can significantly shape global dynamics of normative and institutional change. Drawing on the emerging body of literature on the agency of the governed, this book assesses the current dynamics of transfer and diffusion studies at the interfaces of political science and social anthropology. By focusing on the agency of the governed, the authors integrate a broad spectrum of issues and debates, from the proliferation of global norms to state and security building to international policy cooperation.