Compared Policy Analysis of Intermunicipalities in France, the Comoros and Mali: The Role of African Diasporas in Translocal Policy Transfers

Abstract This article compares the adoption of intermunicipalities within ten years in Mali, France and the Comoros. Intermunicipalities are transferred from France through original cooperations between diasporas and local authorities. The translocal notion is a relevant way to compare territories with similar institutional frameworks but contrasted practices. A comprehensive approach based on comparative monographs and biographies analyzes how transfer agents operate simultaneously in French and African territories. The article shows new objectives and local agents at work in local-to-local transfers of policies. Opportunistic policy transfers are the result of strategic coalitions between transnational diasporas and local authorities with momentarily converging objectives.