Policy transfer, consultants and the geographies of governance

Abstract

The emergence of increasingly transnational geographies of governance presents a challenge to geographers. Geographical work on policy transfer, which links this process with the extension of the hegemonic ‘regimes of truth’ that define policy norms, has much to offer conceptions of emerging geographies of governance, particularly when linked to the production of governance structures, such as global policy networks. The paper argues that increased use of ethnographic methods in policy transfer studies enables a focus on how global policy networks are produced through the actors driving the transfers. This is illustrated through a discussion of policy consultants.