Transnational communities are social groups that emerge from mutual interaction across national boundaries, oriented around a common project or 'imagined' identity. This common project or identity is constructed and sustained through the active engagement and involvement of at least some of its members. Such communities can overlap in different ways with formal organizations but, in principle, they do not need formal organization to be sustained. This book explores the role of transnational communities in relation to the governance of business and economic activity. It does so by focusing on a wide range of empirical terrains, including discussions of the Laleli market in Istanbul, the institutionalization of private equity in Japan, the transnational movement for open content licenses, and the mobilization around environmental certification. These studies show that transnational communities can align the cognitive and normative orientations of their members over time and thereby influence emergent transnational governance arrangements.

Table of Contents:
List of figures; List of tables; List of appendices; List of contributors; Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. Transnational communities and governance Marie-Laure Djelic and Sigrid Quack; 2. Global structures: markets, organizations, networks - and communities? Renate Mayntz; Part II. Classical Communities with a Transnational Extension: 3. The multiple layers of a transnational 'imagined community': the notion and reality of the ethnic Chinese business community Heidi Dahles; 4. From cross-border exchange networks to transnational trading practices? The case of shuttle traders in Laleli, Istanbul Mine Eder and Özlem Öz; Part III. Professional Communities with a Transnational Extension: 5. Transnational boards and governance regimes: a Franco-British comparison Charles Harvey and Mairi Maclean; 6. Private equity in Japan: global financial markets and transnational communities Glenn Morgan and Izumi Kubo; 7. Formal organizing and transnational communities: evidence from global finance governance associations, 1879–2006 Asma A. Hussain and Marc J. Ventresca; 8. Promoting transnational professionalism: forays of the 'Big Firm' accounting community into France Carlos Ramirez; Part IV. Virtual Communities: 9. Gift-giving, transnational communities, and skill building in developing countries: the case of free/open source software Anca Metiu; 10. Epistemic communities and social movements: transnational dynamics in the case of Creative Commons Leonhard Dobusch and Sigrid Quack; Part V. Transnational Interest or Issue-Based Communities: 11. The transnational temperance community Mark Lawrence Schrad; 12. Industrial democracy in the European Community: trade unions as a defensive transnational community, 1968–88 Thomas Fetzer; 13. The making of a comprehensive transnational discourse community Dieter Plehwe; 14. Global warming, transnational communities and economic entrepreneurship: the case of carbon capture and storage (CCS) Åge Mariussen; 15. Communities of practice as cause and consequence of transnational governance: the evolution of social and environmental certification Tim Bartley and Shawna N. Smith; Part VI. Conclusion: 16. Transnational communities and their impact on the governance of business and economic activity Marie-Laure Djelic and Sigrid Quack; Index.