Diffusion as translation: transediting and the diffusion of social movement discourses across linguistic borders in the age of globalization

Abstract In a globalized world, the diffusion of social movement discourse usually occurs across linguistic borders. This research conceptualizes the diffusion of social movement discourse as a transediting process that is both organizational and textual. Based on a 2-year-long ethnography of an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) in China, it shows how diffusion as a process of transediting has become embedded as an organizational routine in the NGO’s functioning, crystallizing as a set of practices adopted by the organization in its operation of social movement media to select, translate, and adapt global social movement discourses to local publics, advocacy campaigns, and the authoritarian context. Overall, the study illustrates transediting as a practice adopted by NGOs but constrained by the institutional environment. This practice mediates the global–local mobility of social movement discourses and creates an alternative space for thinking globally and acting locally.