Search

In this editorial, we outline origins and evolutions of (studying) intermediaries in the field of education. While intermediaries have played a significant role since the establishment of mass education in the 19th century, it was not until the broader transformation from government to governance from the 1970s onwards that intermediaries became visible – and investigated – as a distinct field of powerful actors. The more recent digital transformation of education can, on the one hand, be situated within these broader evolutions. On the other hand, the rise of digital technologies, data infrastructures and platform has also significantly impacted, and further empowered, the field of intermediaries. With this Special Issue, which consists of five contributions, we aim at a closer disentanglement of these recent transformations. In this editorial, each contribution is briefly discussed individually, before outlining some overall findings of the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a critical analysis of the multifaceted intermediary role played by ed-tech (educational technology) consulting providers in the realm of educational governance. The study draws on multidisciplinary research and uses illustrative examples from Germany to outline their impact on the integration of digital technologies in schools. By employing an analytical framework that encompasses three key perspectives—policy, pedagogy, and economics—the paper explores the complexities of consultancy between governance actors, sectors, and fields of knowledge. Considering these dimensions together, the study offers a comprehensive understanding of ed-tech consulting, shedding light on its influence on policy enactment, educational practices, and economic value chains. It underscores the challenges and tensions that consultants must navigate, while raising concerns about their potential to pre-empt pedagogical decisions and diffuse commercial interests into educational settings. As such, this paper aims to provide a conceptual foundation for investigating these ambiguities, with the goal of stimulating further research into the growing field of ed-tech consulting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines Swiss educational information and communication technology (ICT) coordinators ('Pädagogischer ICT-Support'; PICTS) in Swiss compulsory schools in their ambivalent role between active agents of change and mere facilitators for their colleagues. Using a qualitative research design, it explores the history, self-perception and current roles of PICTS in the canton of Zurich and their interaction with other actors in the education system and the cantonal authorities. This paper draws on science and technology studies to understand the unique role of educational ICT coordinators. The results show that the perceptions and self-understanding of PICTS have remained consistent since their establishment, even though the digital technologies they deal with have evolved rapidly. Their dual role allows PICTS to be both active agents of change and part of a school's teaching staff. Working at the frontier, they are ambiguous figures, embodying the contradictions of digital transformation in education without necessarily making them explicit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rising prevalence of digital data, infrastructures and platforms in education, the challenge of conceptualizing and investigating 'intermediaries' has substantially increased. This not only refers to various new types of actors that have been materializing around practices of data infrastructuring (e.g., data management), but equally to the rising empowerment of data infrastructures themselves as intermediaries of policy and governance. The aim of this article is to sharpen our conceptual understanding of this interrelation between intermediaries and data infrastructuring. More specifically, the article suggests to approach intermediaries through a lens on performative contexting, thus shifting the focus towards how 'intermediary contexting' is used, by whom and where exactly, rather than seeking to map intermediaries as an object 'from the outside'. Data infrastructuring, then, can be regarded both as part, and as a result, of such contexting efforts. Using Estonia as a case study, it is shown what we see (differently) when applying such a lens to the digital transformation of education. The findings hereby indicate a gradual emergence of what could be described as 'governance by intermediarization': a process in which more and more actors are shifted into the (self)contexting as infrastructural stewards, while the politics of digital transformation become centered – i.e., seemingly depoliticized – around asserting continuous change through digital connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competition in higher education seems ubiquitous. Universities today compete for values such as diversity and internationality in the same way as they compete for innovation, impact and employability. The meaning and perception of competition in higher education have changed substantially within the last decades. Competition today is imperative, attribute and action. It is detached from distinct frames – relevant in political science, sociology and economics alike – and both measure and goal in itself. Given the centrality and ambiguity of competition in higher education today, understanding how competition operates is central to grasping contemporary dynamics that reshape higher education. Against this background, the question 'How do universities compete?' relates to a constructivist perspective that critically reflects research frames on competition in two distinct ways. First, this perspective refrains from adapting comprehensive economic or sociological frames to higher education without taking the specificities of higher education into account. Second, such a context-sensitive view on competitions corresponds with attention to the level and form of agency competing organisations exhibit. Overall, the contributions in this special issue provide context-sensitive analytical frames that respond to empirically observable competition in higher education. The way universities compete depends on contextual factors of how competition is organised, the role of intermediaries as well as the interrelationship between state agency and organisational self-perceptions as acting organisations. Initially directed at increasing efficiency, competition is characterised nowadays by a wide range of intended and unintended effects that will be identified and discussed in this special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency is vital for energy transitions, and energy-poor, vulnerable, and hard-to-reach groups are at risk of being left behind. In this context, local middle actors have been suggested as partners in deploying targeted energy support. Nevertheless, scarce research has engaged with them to assess if they are willing and capable of contributing, if they can reach households, and if they have unmet needs. In this research, we draw on the mapping of 198 local organizations and 34 semi-structured interviews conducted after deploying a pilot energy support service in Setúbal, Portugal. Interviews characterized the organizations and target audiences, assessed energy literacy, explored potential collaborative roles, and recognized drivers, barriers, and solutions. Results show that most organizations are willing to disseminate activities, forward citizens, facilitate contacts, co-organize events, and participate in training. Half can identify vulnerable families for proactive support. Drivers include environmental concerns, community participation, and social support. However, few seem able to conduct energy support, hire/redirect staff, or participate in coordination. Scarce human resources, lack of time, other priorities, and financing concerns severely constrain local organizations. This case study finds some potential for local organizations to act as intermediaries in energy support, building on their communication channels and trusted relationships to fulfill specific roles. However, they are often hard-to-reach themselves and burdened with demanding activities. Thus, we suggest that fostering collaborations with local organizations is challenging but possible. It requires dedicated funding, time, and resources to empower, capacitate, and reward middle actors for their contributions in delivering energy support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the roles of those who mediate citizenship by investment (CBI) in Türkiye. Within the scope of the study, those who mediate the sale of CBI to foreigners in 8 cities were interviewed. The study revealed that the investment industry in Türkiye has multiple actors, and these actors invest in institutional infrastructure to improve their organizational capacity, and they have institutional and political connections. With these connections, intermediaries affect both the shaping of investment programmes and the socio-spatial mobilization of migrants within intertwined relations with the housing market. Based on all this information, it can be clearly stated that the intermediaries have a crucial role in the development of the global citizenship market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The illegal trade in totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) is causing adverse social, ecological, and economic impacts. This illegal activity is accelerating the overexploitation of totoaba and pushing the critically endangered vaquita (Phocoena sinus) closer to extinction. Despite extensive efforts to recover vaquita populations, scant attention has been given to the totoaba trade as an independent issue. As a result, data on the totoaba trade are limited, which hampers robust analyses and development of effective interventions to reduce illegal harvesting. We used a previously developed framework specifically designed to examine dynamics of illegal markets and guide measures to mitigate illegal use of totoaba. This framework separates markets into 3 analytical levels: characterization of participating actors (e.g., fishers, intermediaries); examination of how actors interact within the market (e.g., organization of supply chains); and assessment of the overall market dynamics that result from these interactions (e.g., factors determining price and quantity). We reviewed existing literature (108 initial articles) and interviewed key market actors, academics, and nongovernmental organization experts (14) to obtain data for this framework. Our findings offer an overview of the totoaba illegal market operation, highlighting intervention points (e.g., customs agents) and areas where additional information is required to decrease information gaps (e.g., US local market). We describe the structure and complexity of this market, emphasizing the influential role of organized crime in shaping its dynamics (e.g., controlling prices paid to fishers and stockpiling). By providing a systematic and in‐depth understanding of the market operation, we aimed to establish a benchmark for effective interventions and future research aimed at reducing uncertainties. Our results provide a crucial step toward addressing this critical issue and can help facilitate development of effective strategies to combat the illegal totoaba trade and promote biodiversity conservation more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While previous literature on international innovation ecosystems (IIEs) construction focuses on the leading role of high-tech corporations, the intermediaries which were thought of as playing auxiliary and supporting roles have long been ignored. This study intends to fill this gap by exploring how an intermediary organisation initiates and constructs an IIE as a focal actor from the perspective of social capital. Combining a longitudinal case study and grounded theory, we investigate the construction process of the China–Israel innovation ecosystem established by Infinity Group (IG), an Israeli private equity firm with a base in China that acts as a leading role in connecting innovation cooperation between the two countries. Our findings show that structural capital acts as a fundamental element from the emergence of the ecosystem to its mature stage. Specifically, this study suggests that culture embeddedness influences the diffusion of trust, and trust further leads the network change to a small-world structure, during which intermediaries can act as leading actors to overcome the challenges during the IIE building process. Our study enriches the literature on international innovation ecosystem and provides some practical implications for the construction of intermediary-oriented IIEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of the term terroir is now widespread in the discourse around wine and food more generally. It is assumed to have a long-standing usage yet the growth in use of the term (both in France and in the Anglophone world) is comparatively recent. By using Google Ngram data this study charts the timescale and impact of this rise. The analysis then uses Google Ngram plus (1) the quantitative analysis of a qualitative study and (2) textual analysis of British newspapers to explore this development for wine producers, intermediaries and consumers. A case study of the wine magazine Decanter adds confirmation to the overall proposition. The reasons for this rise in the use of terroir are explored examining both cultural and economic factors, including the changing supply and demand for wine over the last half-century, the explosion in the number of online wine intermediaries and consumers' drive to find authentic products which afford them opportunities for value co-creation. Overall, the study develops and underlines the ways in which terroir as currently used is pre-eminently a social construct – offering both 'phatic communion' and an instant connotation of quality to wine communities without requiring any explanation of what it actually entails. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investments in the digital welfare state are often driven by the promise of removing intermediaries between the state and citizens, yet they continue to play a key role in the last mile delivery of state services. By intermediaries, I mean people who interface between bureaucrats and citizens. Their work, often as proxies for citizens, is not only to simplify bureaucratic procedures for them, but also help insulate them from bureaucratic apathy. Based on 18-months of ethnographic fieldwork, I describe the work of intermediaries around government offices, who (in)visibly support citizens in navigating the bureaucratic procedures of enrolling into Aadhaar, India's biometrics-based national identity number. Building on Julia Elyachar's conception of "phatic labor," I position such intermediaries themselves as infrastructure and illustrate how their affective networks can be leveraged to orchestrate a form of distributive justice to ensure that being marginal does not preclude a citizen's access to welfare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'googlization' of education is emblematic of the growing power of private tech companies in schools across the globe, challenging education as a public good. While critical scholarship has started unpacking the ideological, pedagogical and economical logics underpinning Google's digital infrastructure in schools, we have little insight into how googlization unfolds in education systems across the world. This article addresses this by examining the googlization of education across three countries – The US, Australia, and The Netherlands – focusing on the work by new and established intermediary actors which mediate platform power between private tech companies and public education systems. Our findings highlight five different types of intermediary work that broker dependence on Google in schools. The paper concludes by outlining how education researchers and institutions might reclaim public education by intervening in the googlization of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This article contributes to the literature at the intersection of migration and global production networks (GPNs) by examining the role of labour market intermediaries (LMIs) for migrant workers. It demonstrates mediation processes by LMIs and elaborates on migration networks in the global labour market through qualitative and quantitative data. It examines the role of LMIs in responding to mechanisms in GPN, including zero inventory and just‐in‐time production, and the impact of private employment agents on migrant workers, particularly on their career paths. The article found that LMIs play an active role in the mediation and cooperation between migrant labour and firms and in shaping structural conditions for migrant workers in response to global competitive pressures. However, LMIs play a controversial role in social upgrading. Private LMIs are identified as having a negative impact on career paths of migrant workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Leipzig Charter highlights the need for integrated, place-based participatory governance approaches to achieve more sustainable and just urban futures. In this article, we provide a synthesis of our transdisciplinary analysis of ten EU projects which were selected from over 100 EU-funded urban sustainability and justice projects. Through analysing these cases according to the question of 'How can city makers design governance processes for just and sustainable outcomes?', we identify six Enabling Governance Arrangements which are considered of high relevance to the integration of urban sustainability and justice through both municipality and community-led initiatives. Each Enabling Governance Arrangement was not only observed at play in multiple initiatives but was also further consolidated and confirmed in dedicated workshops with over 60 city makers of different backgrounds. This highlights their potential to stir place-specific debates around the governance of sustainable and just cities. Overall, we provide empirically grounded, actionable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers on how to achieve integrated urban sustainability and justice through Enabling Governance Arrangements. Highlights: Formulates six arrangements for sustainable and just governance that can help municipalities and communities Arrangements are based on an analysis of governance processes that contributed to more sustainable and just cities Consolidated and confirmed the potential of these arrangements in workshops with over 60 city makers This demonstrates their potential to stir place-specific debates for the governance of sustainable and just cities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engagement is fundamental for organizations in complex projects' ecologies (e.g., space, nuclear, telecommunication) to enact value for their end-users. However, the existing knowledge on this empirical subject has two significant shortcomings. First, while the narrative about project value suffices to explain how a project enacts value for its stakeholders, it falls short of unfolding the enacted value of a complex project for its end-users from a broader economic and societal perspective. Second, while literature effectively explains project stakeholder engagement practices, the role played by other elements of a complex project' ecology in shaping the engagement practices with end-users remains largely underexplored. This paper aims to explain how organizations in complex projects' ecologies engage with their end-users to enact the value of complex projects. Leveraging a qualitative and inductive approach, we conducted 31 open interviews with managers of organizations in the European space project ecology, and their end-users. Drawing on a grounded theory approach, we identified four classes of engagement practices. (1) "Personal for value espoused," adopted by space managers to espouse the value of complex space projects to end-user managers. (2) "Personal for value expected," adopted by space managers to be engaged by end-user managers and understand their value expectation. (3) "Personal for value enacted," reinforcing personal relationships and enacting the value of complex space projects over time. (4) "Nonpersonal" engagement practices, adopted by organizations in the complex project ecology toward their end-users. We contribute to the literature on value and engagement by showing that: (1) value enactment occurs through personal engagement and is not only impersonal; (2) form of value (i.e., espoused, expected, and enacted) shapes the engagement of managers and organizations in the complex project ecologies toward their end-users; and (3) a project ecology perspective enhances the understanding of the value of complex projects for end-users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The migration industry consists of actors and organisations (e.g. agents, brokers, agencies, corporations) through which migration is facilitated, organised, and accelerated. Although the migration industry gained prominence in the late 20th century within labour mobility, it has relatively rarely been the subject of historical analysis. This historiographical essay argues that employers’ needs and demands for foreign workers, often ad-hoc, have triggered the emergence and development of the migration industry. Rooted in modern historical debates on labour migration, this essay aims to critically assess various forms of cooperation between employers and commercial actors worldwide and place those strategies within the migration industry. Inspired by dichotomous approach to capturing the relationships identified between employers and actors in the migration industry (i.e. agents and partners), this essay investigates the larger spectrum of types of relationships that have taken place historically. We argue that since the mid-19th century, we have witnessed an evolution of these relationships: from acting as a provider of labour (supplier or agent) to a greater professionalisation and consolidation of the relationship between employers and actors in the migration industry (partners and then allies). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Receivers and intermediary establishments typical to urban areas have unique freight behaviour and are understudied, particularly in developing countries. This paper uses establishment-based freight survey data to examine their freight generation patterns in the Chennai metropolitan area, India. Three sets of Simple Linear Regression (SLR) models, three single predictor proportional odds logit models, one multiple linear regression model, and one multiple predictor proportional odds logit model with business size (employment, area, and operational age) and indicators of establishment category as regressors are developed each for both freight production and freight attraction. Partial proportional odds logit models are developed in a few cases to overcome the limitations of proportional odds logit models. The best SLR model varied with the establishment category for freight production and attraction. The establishment area model is the best among single predictor proportional odds logit models. The multiple predictor proportional odds logit models marginally improved the fit over single predictor models. The proportional odds logit model results show that the establishment category has a greater impact on freight generation levels than business size variables. Since earlier studies rarely focused on receivers and intermediary establishments, policymakers may benefit from the developed models and study insights while estimating freight demand and developing freight policies. • Receivers and intermediary establishments' freight generation is studied. • Partial Proportional Odds (PO) logit models are developed for freight attraction. • Area model is the best single predictor PO logit model for freight generation. • Establishment type affects freight generation more than business size variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on evidence from documents and semi-structured interviews with members of the Catalan system of higher education, this research explores how intermediary organizations (IOs) facilitate the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), conceived as a global policy framework, in local contexts. We observed that, despite the voluntary nature of SDGs-related policies, most Catalan public universities embraced the SDGs. Two contextual factors likely facilitated their effective engagement with this global initiative: first, the autonomy granted by regional and national governments to the higher education sector when it comes to social responsibility, and, second, the willingness and ability of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Catalonia to work with the SDGs. The key element added to these contextual factors was the collaboration stimulated by meso-level actors, namely Catalan intermediaries. The Catalan case exhibits a process whereby IOs effectively engage with HEIs, forging a platform for collaboration; in turn, this led the local government to delegate the task of promoting the SDGs to IOs. This paper contributes to the debate in global higher education policy-making as it discusses the policy implications of the involvement of intermediary actors in bringing global policy frameworks to local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no question about the innovation force and the economic potential of blockchain technology. As the basis for new currencies, financial services, and smart contracts, blockchain technology can be seen as the fifth disruptive computing paradigm, after mainframes, personal computers, the Internet, and mobile devices. However, there are questions about its ethical implications, which have the potential to also impact the economic success of blockchain technology. This article aims to provide ethical guidance on blockchain technology. In order to reach this goal, the focus of the ethical analysis will first concentrate on the unique characteristics of blockchain technology compared to other technology-based innovations. The unique nucleus of blockchain technology can be defined as a move from the trust in people to a trust in math, as a move from an internet of information to an internet of value, or—as I would propose—a shift from an intermediated network to an immediate network. Second, the ethical opportunities (e.g., transparency, participation, global access to services) and risks (e.g., ecological impact, lack of legal monitoring and enforcement) associated with this unique nucleus of blockchain technology will be discussed. Third, an outlook on possible concrete solutions will be provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermediation and transformative capacity building are identified as important issues in sustainability transformations. Yet the connection of these two concepts has not been systematically analysed. This empirical, qualitative case study on active transport in Finland investigates intermediation in building local transformative capacity. The study shows that intermediaries are a heterogeneous group of actors that support transformative capacity building by facilitating the flows of knowledge, linking actors, forming ties across different scales, and supporting visioning and strategic planning. Intermediation manifests in five of the seven elements of local transformative capacity building. Our study, thus, contrasts with previous understanding wherein intermediation is considered only as a criterion for multiform governance. As intermediation is central in building transformative capacity, it should be better acknowledged, particularly by authorities and policymakers to secure legitimacy, operational capabilities, and funding for intermediaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education governance networks are increasingly common and very diverse. In a strategic case study, we apply a new social network analysis method to evaluate the sustainability of a public-private education governance network. We examine the balance of satisfaction across public and private sectors and the network's fairness in terms of whether actor groups' investments in the network are proportional to their influence. We find that this established, long-term network is not entirely balanced but is fair, and argue that the fairness contributes to its sustainability. This fairness might arise due to the existing intermediaries in the network. Intermediaries play important roles in many networks, operating between other actors to build capacity and facilitate cooperation. We investigate how intermediaries operate, especially in networks that connect the public and private sectors. We find that intermediaries' roles differ according to sector. Public-sector intermediaries perform a direction function, complementing the effort and interconnectedness of individual actors. In contrast, private-sector intermediaries play a representing role, substituting for individual actors' effort and interconnectedness. These different roles of the public- and private-sector intermediaries contribute to the sustainability of the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermediaries are professionals who enable the effective right of access to justice for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, ensuring principles of equity, participation, accessibility and self-determination for them. This paper analyzes the presence and formative background of this figure from an international comparative perspective. Nowadays, we can find these professionals in the international law across different countries: some Nordic countries, United Kingdom, Israel, Azerbaijan, Taiwan, South Africa, Kenya, Canada, part of the USA, Mexico and Chile, Australia and New Zealand. In Spain, intermediaries are considered in the latest reform of the civil and procedural legislation (Law 8/2021, June the 2nd). This paper analyzes the formative background of this figure from an international comparative perspective. We find both formal and non-formal education in the background of these professionals. There is no doubt their profile must adjust to the needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the contexts that require the facilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermediaries are communication experts who facilitate communication between individuals with communication needs and the criminal justice system. In executing the role, intermediaries interact with police, lawyers, judges and other criminal justice professionals. But is the intermediary a professional in its own right? This article argues that a more useful question to ask is whether intermediaries engage in what Andrew Abbott terms 'professional work'. It reveals how the role tussles for legitimate control over its work tasks through the staking of 'jurisdictional claims'. Intermediaries do so through the performance of 'boundary work' which involves the construction and negotiating of boundaries that mediate interaction. This article presents findings from thirty-one in-depth, semi-structured interviews with intermediaries and judges in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. It concludes that the future of the intermediary role and its work depends largely on the type of 'jurisdictional settlement' which its practitioners seek to carve out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable Finance Roadmaps (SFRs) have emerged internationally as an instrument for sustainable finance reform. However, there is variation among countries over who leads the SFR process. This article focuses on Aotearoa New Zealand where the process was led by an intermediary, the Sustainable Finance Forum, a multistakeholder process which convened stakeholders for SFR development. This case study contributes to the literature on intermediaries in sustainability transitions by showing intermediation in the financial sector. Empirical analysis demonstrates that intermediation functioned as a strategic intervention to overcome regime-level barriers to transition by visioning, convening and coordinating stakeholders, and developing transition pathways, albeit with challenges in terms of Māori representation and government participation. This case study shows how intermediaries adapted to the distinctive demands of early transition phases, especially by a process of reproduction where one intermediary created another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change governance systems comprise a wide variety of actors. Here, we introduce "climate intermediaries" as one potentially influential yet often neglected type of actor, behaving as "go-betweens" that connect different types of actors and/or governance levels. This Special Issue analyses two under-researched forms of climate intermediaries: those that exist for reasons unconnected to climate change, and new or uncommon forms of climate intermediaries that have yet to be examined. In this Introduction article, we present the conceptual framework employed within our Special Issue. We begin by problematizing the definition of intermediaries within climate research before clarifying our own relational understanding of "climate intermediaries". A climate intermediary is thus a role, assumed by any type of actor, while potentially assuming other roles when interacting with other actors. Second, we summarize the existing research on the strategies of intermediaries, the interactions that may exist between them, and the impacts of these actors on the climate policy process. These three foci then guide our three research questions for the Special Issue. Third, we examine existing research on myriad types of intermediaries, such as interest groups, faith-based actors, and funding bodies. Finally, we provide an overview of the contributions included within the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgency and threats of climate change have elevated the issue to a prominent – albeit often contested – position within the policy process. Resultantly, climate politics and climate change governance have received enhanced attention in both the academic literature and in real-life discourse. Yet, except regarding certain empirical contexts, there has been a lack of conceptualization or analysis of intermediating actors in climate politics – what we term "climate intermediaries" – that bridge between different types of actors and different levels of governance. This Special Issue sought to reduce this research gap by analyzing the strategies, interactions, and impacts in the policy process of these "go-betweens", across three continents. In this concluding article, we take stock of the insights provided by the individual contributions and offer answers to the three research questions that guided the Special Issue. In addition, we provide some suggestions for future research avenues and concluding reflections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The infrastructure sector is undergoing a significant process of change, as part of which the state is reducing its direct engagement. This has spotlighted local communities, which are increasingly involved in various infrastructure projects, specifically renewable energy projects. However, because individual communities often find it difficult to establish infrastructure projects independently, they tend to collaborate in the framework of inter-community partnerships. Despite the global prevalence of such partnerships, it is still unclear what constitutes the "glue" binding various communities together, enabling them to promote infrastructure projects, and renewable energy projects in particular. Our study addresses this research lacuna, focusing on the role of climate intermediaries in facilitating these partnerships. Based on internal correspondences regarding the promotion of "Ru'ach Bereshit," the largest wind farm planned in Israel to date, we demonstrate how an individual climate intermediary engaged in negotiations in four arenas: within communities, between communities, vis-à-vis private developers, and vis-à-vis regulators. By exploring climate intermediaries' multi-arena negotiations, this study demonstrates how such intermediaries succeed in synchronizing local energy policies with national energy policies to promote a renewable energy project that transcends the community level of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess whether different presidents have different "styles" of involving intermediary organizations such as trade unions or business associations in the policy process. Given that temporal variation in the relationship between presidents and intermediaries can be observed, to what extent can the intermediaries included in the policy process be explained by the respective president's leadership style and/or political ideology? We concentrate on the process by which clean energy policies were formulated under three Mexican presidents between 2006 and 2022. We draw on original data collected through 18 semi-structured interviews carried out with intermediaries between January and July 2022. Our findings show that the different presidents had different policy styles and therefore varied in how they included climate intermediaries in the policy process. This finding has important implications for research on policy styles as well as climate intermediation. Regarding policy styles the results presented call for theorizing of the dynamics observed. As concerns climate intermediaries the corresponding literature is invited to pay more attention to the political context in which they operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizens are likely to encounter various types of alternative media online, especially on algorithmically personalized news channels (APNC) like social network sites or search engines. It is unclear, however, to what degree they are aware of these outlets and familiar with the concept of alternative media. This study investigates the relation between exposure to alternative media and knowledge of them, taking the role of APNC into account. Analyzing representative survey data of German Internet users, we find a gap: While many individuals report to use alternative media, few of them are able to name alternative media titles matching scholarly conceptions. Although the use of APNC increases self-reported exposure to alternative media, it does not improve actual knowledge of them. All in all, many Internet users have little awareness of alternative media and do not clearly distinguish between different types of sources they come across online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commentators sometimes say that the elimination of impediments to trade—namely, market friction—tends to expand trade and foster competition. This casual assumption is known to be erroneous. Antitrust law recognizes that restraints of trade—which are forms of market friction—are often pro-competitive and frequently have both pro- and anticompetitive effects. Accordingly, antitrust law prohibits unreasonable restraints of trade, but not all restraints of trade. Trust-busting advocates promote a different approach to market friction. They argue that the antitrust laws intend to maintain fragmented industries and favor small businesses. This approach, which has been embraced by the antitrust agencies in recent years, implies that high-friction markets are more competitive than low-friction markets. It is an expression of a phenomenon that can be called the " friction paradox ": the elimination of market friction is desirable until this goal is accomplished. Notable examples of the friction paradox include hostility toward new generations of market intermediaries, such as supermarkets, chain stores, department stores, big-box stores, digital platforms, and digital ecosystems. This article observes that antipathy for large intermediaries results in a willingness to sacrifice the core benefits of competition—low prices, convenience, efficiency, and innovation. It, therefore, argues that antitrust expressions of the friction paradox place competition policy at war with itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fragmentation of the literature on intermediaries between the university and industry has led to a disorganised and confused theoretical landscape. This research addresses this gap in the literature by proposing an analytical tool that can be used as guidance. For this purpose, this work provides a taxonomy of these intermediaries and classifies them into five different classes. To this end, we review 125 studies on university–industry cooperation (UIC) intermediaries. In addition to the general and innovation-related information, we extracted specific data related to the relevant UIC intermediaries from each article, i.e. the type(s) of intermediary addressed and its identified functions. This taxonomy is based on twenty-two functions identified in the UIC intermediary literature and thirteen UIC intermediary types. The five proposed classes of intermediaries are specialised in five different roles. This integrative background can be applied in future research and in the definition of policy-based guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In February and March of 1812, Indigenous, mestizo, and creole rebels led an uprising in and around the colonial city of Huánuco in the viceroyalty of Peru. The diversity of the insurgent army reflected, to an extent, the vision of bilingual friars who, in the months preceding the uprising, had written, translated, and distributed pasquinades that called on residents to unite and drive out the Spanish. Although the insurgent army had two initial victories, Spanish authorities quickly put down the movement and began an investigation into the motives and leaders of the rebellion. Their interrogations led them to the subversive friars and the " papeles seductivos " (seductive papers) that these men of the cloth had been circulating. Using a collection of digitized documents from the uprising, which includes several examples of these seditious verses, this paper examines the significance of the Huánuco Rebellion in Peruvian and Latin American history. The rebellion demonstrates the potential of friars in their role as mediators of information to destabilize colonial relations. Additionally, the diverse army of insurgents complicates, at least to a degree, historians' frequent characterization of Peru in the independence era as a bastion of royalism beset by ethnic tension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues private expertise is a driving force behind the global expansion of rental housing financialization and, particularly, the making of build to rent (BTR) assets and markets. It develops this argument by investigating Australia's underexamined BTR market and global real estate service companies (RESCs) as ubiquitous yet unscrutinized intermediaries in this new financialization frontier. Its analysis heeds calls to attend to assetization, as the process of turning things into assets, deploying science and technology studies-inspired marketization approaches, which understand markets as sociotechnical assemblages, and their prior integration with critical political economy of financialization. This approach is enhanced by engaging with the techno-politics of market-making scholarship, which sensitizes assetization approaches to the politics of expertise. This conceptual move respecifies market devices (i.e., material and discursive assemblages of market making) as knowledge contingent (i.e., that require and assert expert knowledge) and provides conceptual terrain to explore the rule of private experts in assetization. Analysis of interviews, media, and industry reporting reveals how RESCs' epistemic, discursive, and technical efforts format the emergent market, making BTR assets thinkable, visible, calculable, and transactable. This article repositions rental housing financialization as a techno-political project led in nontrivial ways by private experts who act as financializing champions and as intermediaries connecting global finance and local sites, through advisory, valuation, brokerage, and lobbying. This contributes to understandings of the expanding global geographies of rental housing financialization and project ecologies behind urban production. Underscoring the power of private expertise to reconfigure housing markets recasts concerns surrounding market reliance as urban housing crisis salves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1928, the French government created a bureau in Marseille to both control and help North African migrants, an organization eventually called the Bureau des Affaires Musulmanes Nord-Africaines (BAMNA). Throughout the BAMNA's many name changes and structural reorganizations over the years, Mohamed Ben Hadj remained constant as the bureau's only North African employee. This article traces Ben Hadj's career within the BAMNA, using his professional trajectory to explore the mechanisms and disfunction of colonial governance in the metropole. Ben Hadj created his own role as an urban, metropolitan intermediary, leveraging his personal connections to build a sphere of influence in Marseille's North African community. Ben Hadj's rise to power within the BAMNA reveals the importance of this type of intermediary for understanding imperial control in the metropole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Motivation: How do poor and marginalized people solve problems and claim rights and entitlements in places affected by conflict and where state authority is contested? Understanding such processes is important as the numbers of poor people living in difficult settings grows, yet existing research on governance in conflict largely misses a "citizen's eye" view of these processes. Purpose: The article focuses on "everyday governance" from a citizen's perspective. What do engagements with the multiple state and non‐state actors that prevail in such settings look like? We present insights from longitudinal research in conflict‐affected areas in Mozambique, Myanmar and Pakistan. Methods and approach: Research was undertaken in two phases over the period 2017–2021. Researchers developed an innovative method, "governance diaries," in which we interviewed the same set of poor and marginalized households over a period of a year, capturing an unfolding citizen's eye view of governance. We subsequently used the same method to include key intermediaries to whom households went with problems. Findings: We find that in most instances poor and marginalized households did not rely on the state or other formal or external authorities to resolve problems. Mostly, they simply "lived with" those problems, or resolved them through "self‐provision"—mutual aid and community action. When they did go to authorities, they used "governance intermediaries"—actors that connect people with authorities or mediate between households. These intermediaries played a central role in local governance, using their networks and deploying a range of strategies with a focus on local resolution of problems. Policy implications: These findings challenge some core assumptions of contemporary development practice. First, development programmes tend to focus on improving state‐run services, rather than engaging with the diversity of how public goods are governed on the ground. Second, policies assume that people can go directly to authorities with their problems, and do not take into account the role that intermediaries play. Finally, the highly diverse networks of governance actors that matter to specific places challenges the common focus on formal systems rather than informal practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on platform domestic workers' (PDWs') experiences and their decision to engage in platform leakage—taking platform domestic work offline. We argue that delving into the types of domestic work choices PDWs make reveals their agency with and through digital platforms in response to precarity on the platform and in the domestic sector. The article demonstrates, through an interpretivist case study that included semi-structured interviews with a sample of PDWs in Cape Town and analysis of documents related to their platform company, that platform leakage is an unavoidable and possibly inherent feature of the platform domestic work model. The findings show that PDWs' experience of platform domestic work as a form of "gig work" is informed and mainly influenced by unemployment and underemployment in the domestic sector rather than its benefits of flexibility for work life balance and fulfilling unpaid reproductive labour needs. Further, the algorithmic management of the labour process shows that flexibility leaves PDWs in a precarious position but also, paradoxically, creates the need and opportunity to engage in platform leakage. As a result, algorithmic management as a form of control over PDWs' work performance, and its contingence on personalism for reputational ratings, does not always imply the inescapable power of platform companies. We conclude that further research is needed to deepen our understanding of the employment relationship that emerges from platform leakage, particularly how PDWs experience it and the management of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critically examines the way in which the legitimation of emerging artists occurs in the digitalized art market. Based on a conceptual specification of intermediaries' practices in the legitimation process, we have conducted a case study of Saatchi Art, a pioneering digital platform for trading artworks. We perform a deductive analysis of introduction, interpretation, and selection of artists based on a variety of qualitative data. Our findings show that the legitimacy of selected artists is constructed mainly by Saatchi Art's curatorial programs. The exclusive practice of granting legitimacy to selected artists by curators stems from symbolic capital- that has accumulated from their career in the conventional art market, thus, implying a close linkage between the offline and online art worlds. Therefore, the disintermediation that is initiated by the digital art platform gives rise to reintermediation due to the necessity of interpreting and endorsing the uncertain value of contemporary artworks and artists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For some time now, media regulators in Germany and beyond have been trying to cope with the rise of digital intermediaries like social networks and search engines. In this context, the German Network Enforcement Act ('NetzDG') has become the epitome of the concept of new-school speech regulation: the increasing co-optation of intermediaries for governmental content moderation – with all its potential harms to free expression and democratic discourse. Contrary to this trend, however, recent legislative measures in Germany, including the Interstate Media Treaty (IMT), suggest that the country is exploring new avenues in digital intermediary regulation. Not only does the new German legislation focus on procedural instead of substantive aspects of content moderation, offering a case study for concepts promoted by recent literature on platform regulation. By introducing a positive bias for certain 'content of value,' the country also includes the role of beneficial content in its regulation. This paper analyzes the new German countermovement against new-school regulation and presents its potential impact for future regulatory concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the manner in which two types of communication aids (wooden mannequins and line drawings) that are selected, introduced and managed in real intermediary-mediated police investigative interviews, improve the quality of evidence with vulnerable witnesses and victims with an intellectual disability. Multimodality interactional work carried out by the interviewing police officer, an intermediary and the vulnerable witness with limited verbal abilities to answer the open question, 'What happened?' is analysed. We demonstrate that low technology communication aids can successfully be utilised to elicit the same type of information from those with limited verbal abilities, as the verbal open question 'What happened?', in an unrehearsed and unbiased manner. Aids used in this manner retain the functionality of open questions while reducing their linguistic complexity. This validates the importance of adopting special measures such as the involvement of an intermediary and communication aids in investigative interviews to promote equal opportunities and a fair trial for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies some forms of social intervention of the clergy during the XIX century and, in particular, in the second half of the same. At this time, some features of the colonial parish priest and the mandates that they had to adjust in the process of nation state building coexisted together in certain ecclesiastical figures. The priesthood of José Gabriel Brochero, canonized in 2016, is adequate to examine the cohabitation of these profiles in his prolonged exercise of parish ministry in a region of the interior of Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children and other vulnerable parties such as those with a cognitive, social or communication impairment frequently struggle to understand, and be understood in, the criminal justice environment. One way this has been addressed in jurisdictions around Australia and overseas is through the introduction of intermediary (or communication partner) schemes, whereby an independent third party assists vulnerable witnesses, and in some cases, defendants, with their communication needs. The South Australian Government introduced a trained volunteer communication partner scheme for defendants and prosecution witnesses as one element of its Disability Justice Plan in 2016. However, the scheme had relatively limited use and ceased operation on 1 March 2020. This study provides a qualitative analysis of stakeholders' (N = 23 professionals) perceptions of how the scheme was implemented, the factors that constrained the usefulness of the scheme and how the initiative could be improved. Participants highlighted the need for a future communication partner service to include highly trained and specialized professionals situated within a government agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue investigates the role of technology in the co-production of urban services through six empirical articles based on case-studies from Asia, Africa and South America. This topic has not received yet extensive attention in the literature, despite the emergence of technology as the key mediator between the material and immaterial elements of co-production practice. Based on the analysis of the six contributions, this introductory paper presents nine key issues related to the role of technology in service co-production, which are considered from four analytical perspectives: materiality, knowledge, actors and outcome. Technology co-evolves with physical contexts and practices. It fosters synergic knowledge generation, while also being the product of its own application. It contributes to changing governance structures and the emergence of new intermediary actors. Finally, technology influences power dynamics and equality of access to service, resulting in service provision that may be inclusionary or exclusionary, emancipatory or restrictive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children and vulnerable adults can experience substantive barriers when engaging with justice systems. An intermediary is a trained professional who supports vulnerable individuals to participate fully in legal processes by facilitating communication between them and legal professionals. Challenges in the establishment of the role are evident, while perceptions of how stakeholders perceive the role are relatively under-explored. This review synthesises literature on stakeholders’ perspectives of the intermediary role in the justice system. A systematic search of electronic databases (n = 6) was undertaken alongside manual searches of the grey literature. Papers were independently screened for inclusion. Included papers were appraised for quality and qualitative content analysis was undertaken. The final sample (n = 26) included the perspective of vulnerable individuals and families, legal practitioners and intermediaries. Seven categories were identified: (1) unique knowledge with transformative impact; (2) relationship work; (3) evolving scope, clear boundaries; (4) low status, high demands; (5) outer strengths, inner conflicts; (6) fulfilment in the role and (7) out of sync. The findings suggest that the role of the intermediary is perceived positively across stakeholder groups. However, several challenges are evident in relation to successful implementation of this complex and nuanced role. Recommendations for research and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographies of international migration are classically observed and described as spatial patterns of movements between nation states. This applies in particular ways to the migration of health professionals, whose spatial patterns are the object of much debate due to their consequences on healthcare provision and the reproduction of global inequalities. Often, the spatialities of this migration are explained by macro-level socioeconomic and institutional structures. This is paralleled by a widespread focus on the (inter)national scale. This paper aims to extend the perspective by exploring and conceptualizing the role of the meso-level of organizations in shaping geographies of migration. Based on the discussion of three crucial types of organizations involved in structuring and channelling mobility – state authorities, migration and labour-market intermediaries, and employers – the paper develops a framework for a systematic analysis of the organizational co-production of geographies of migration in the health sector and beyond. This draws attention to important mechanisms producing geographies of migration and allows a grasp of the role of various spaces other than nation states in the production of migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital identity platforms are a recent e-governance innovation for improving social assistance programming in the development context, the most well-known of which is India's Aadhaar. While a significant number of studies have accumulated on Aadhaar, so far under-researched is the importance of local government practices and processes in shaping usage of the platform to support social assistance programming. In this paper we theorize how local government intermediation on digital identity platforms can improve social assistance programming through a case study of the Aadhaar-enabled Fertilizer Distribution System (AeFDS) in Andhra Pradesh. Our findings show how the relevance of the platform for low-income farmers depends crucially on the proactive adaptation of the technology by key local government intermediaries. From a policy perspective, this result emphasizes the importance of supporting efforts to acknowledge the role of responsive local government agencies in ensuring that centralized digital identity platforms remain relevant for implementing social assistance programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Market intermediaries play a crucial role in stitching together necessary actors for effective systems of exchange. However, there is limited understanding of how intermediaries emerge, and contribute to, water market development. This article explains how the China Water Exchange, the country's first and only national-level water trading platform, was catalysed by a top-down imperative consistent with China's water governance reform path. It shows how its genesis, objectives and functions reflect the congruence of goals between its key actors, and their struggles and efforts to build trust. Our focus on interorganizational dynamics adds a new perspective to understanding water market intermediaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In French mountain territories, origin-linked quality schemes have been widely used to address competition from more productive regions, but such schemes have tended to specialise a territory's agriculture around specific products. Today, these territories are marked by the arrival of "left-returned" and new residents, who develop alternative production methods and grassroot initiatives based on agroecological principles and food production relocation. The different groups within the territories hold different visions of what should be agriculture and may confront each other. Sustainable agrifood transformations need to account for the diversity of visions among the variety of actors to enrich transition pathways. The aim of this article is to analyse relationships among a diversity of agrifood actors who have different visions of agriculture in a territory in order to characterise the structure of their relationships and the key actors. More specifically, it seeks, first, to analyse whether actors sharing the same characteristics interact more or not, and whether individual attributes stimulate or constrain relations among the diverse range of actors; and second, to characterise the key actors (i.e. prestigious and brokers) and their roles. The study was conducted in a French alpine territory specialising in extensive dairy cattle breeding to produce protected designation of origin (PDO) cheese. We use mixed methods, combining a social network analysis (regression models, and homophily and centrality indicators) with semi-structured interviews to analyse the discussion network of the diverse actors involved in agriculture and food in the Bauges (including farmers, elected officials, processors, distributors, members of civil society, and employees of agricultural and local development institutions). The analysis showed that there is no homophily within the actor typologies, and that relations were concentrated within the territory. Some actors were more important for developing ties, especially the employees of agricultural and local development institutions, who were more solicitated by others. However, the results revealed homophily among non-native actors, although they are driving force in the development of ties, demonstrating both their ability to forge links and relational barriers with natives. After that, the most influential broker actor was the park employee in charge of agriculture, who holds a pluralist vision and has a central role in gathering different actors together and bringing them into dialogue. The most prestigious actors were the park employee, a civil society actor, and four farmers. These actors all fulfil three main functions: to guide practices and visions within their group as key actors often hold a clear-cut vision, to bind heterogeneous groups together (although this does not prevent tensions and conflict with these actors), and to link institutional levels, often by virtue of being heads of networks and municipal councillors. However, the methodology did not allow the integration of more isolated actors, especially dairy cattle breeders, who should be included more deeply in further research. To better understand the dynamics of sustainable agrifood transformations, the relational approach enables analysis of the patterns of relationships between multiple actors with different agricultural visions, and to characterise the key actors and their roles. From the perspective of accompanying agrifood transformations, it is helpful to understand the relational structures between the actors in order to avoid the possible conflicts that could arise in such research. Moreover, it is useful to identify and mobilise key actors in order to facilitate researchers' entry into a territory and increase participation. [Display omitted] • Within a given territory, different groups hold different visions of what should be agriculture and may confront each other • The study aims to understand how the different groups interact, and to characterise the key actors and their roles • The article uses mixed methods: social network analysis and semi-structured interviews among a diversity of agrifood actors • Results showed no homophily within the actor typologies, but there was homophily among non-native actors • Key actors can play three roles: guide visions within their group, bind heterogeneous groups and link institutional levels [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable wildlife trade is critical for biodiversity conservation, livelihoods, and food security. Regulatory frameworks are needed to secure these diverse benefits of sustainable wildlife trade. However, regulations limiting trade can backfire, sparking illegal trade if demand is not met by legal trade alone. Assessing how regulations affect wildlife market participants' incentives is key to controlling illegal trade. Although much research has assessed how incentives at both the harvester and consumer ends of markets are affected by regulations, little has been done to understand the incentives of traders (i.e., intermediaries). We built a dynamic simulation model to support reduction in illegal wildlife trade within legal markets by focusing on incentives traders face to trade legal or illegal products. We used an Approximate Bayesian Computation approach to infer illegal trading dynamics and parameters that might be unknown (e.g., price of illegal products). We showcased the utility of the approach with a small‐scale fishery case study in Chile, where we disentangled within‐year dynamics of legal and illegal trading and found that the majority (∼77%) of traded fish is illegal. We utilized the model to assess the effect of policy interventions to improve the fishery's sustainability and explore the trade‐offs between ecological, economic, and social goals. Scenario simulations showed that even significant increases (over 200%) in parameters proxying for policy interventions enabled only moderate improvements in ecological and social sustainability of the fishery at substantial economic cost. These results expose how unbalanced trader incentives are toward trading illegal over legal products in this fishery. Our model provides a novel tool for promoting sustainable wildlife trade in data‐limited settings, which explicitly considers traders as critical players in wildlife markets. Sustainable wildlife trade requires incentivizing legal over illegal wildlife trade and consideration of the social, ecological, and economic impacts of interventions. Article impact statement: Simulation models that explicitly consider traders' roles in wildlife markets can help support reduction in illegal wildlife trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermediaries are actors who assist with sustainability transitions. Intermediaries connect, translate, and facilitate flows of information between different groups by positioning themselves between these groups. In this paper we focus on the roles of freshwater intermediaries who have been employed by local authorities and ask how these intermediaries help communities achieve freshwater quality improvements. To answer this question, we present three case studies of freshwater intermediaries working to improve freshwater quality in the Hawke's Bay region of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Our results suggest that intermediaries can help communities improve freshwater quality if they are given the time and resources to establish long-term relationships with communities, and if they are able to synchronise freshwater intermediary work with regional and national freshwater policy objectives. We conclude by arguing that freshwater intermediary work has been undervalued in NZ land and water management, resulting in local and central government attempting to resolve freshwater quality concerns through increasingly prescriptive and complex policy in regulations. Some specific lessons for use of freshwater intermediaries in New Zealand conclude the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the evolutionary history of coolie labourers and the Maistries in the plantations of colonial Madras Presidency in South India during the nineteenth century. The post-emancipation era in colonial India witnessed the growth of planting industries and several phases of migration of coolies to the overseas and domestic plantations. By focussing on coolie migration, particularly the recruitment, settlement and management practices in the coffee plantations of South India, this article argues that the capitalist entrepreneurs intentionally used indigenous socio-political and cultural forms and incorporated the traditional authorities in controlling and managing the estates. The intermediaries between the planters and the coolies used the traditional domains of caste, patriarchy, religion, group, locality, indebtedness, and vulnerability to recruit and employ the labourers in the plantations. The article points to the 'continued indebtedness' of the coolies through advance payment mechanisms and the birth of a coercive supervising authority in the South Indian colonial plantations during the nineteenth century. The article also argues that in due course of plantation development, the coolie recruitment and the engagement of the Maistries became the domains of colonial governmental intervention through new forms of writing practices and the collection of vital statistics of the coolies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]