In the dynamic landscape of globalization, the movement and transformation of policy have long been subjects of academic scrutiny, yet traditional frameworks often fail to capture the intricate realities underlying these processes. A groundbreaking study by Guo and Zhang introduces a novel analytical paradigm that sheds new light on policy mobility by moving beyond simplistic narratives of geographic transplantation or linear diffusion. Their research employs Deleuze’s concept of rhizomatic thinking to unveil a complex network of knowledge, power, and spatial-temporal dynamics that govern how policies evolve and travel across borders in our increasingly interconnected world.
At the heart of this innovative approach is the reconceptualization of policy generation as a form of “rhizomatic evolution.” Unlike classical models that portray policy innovation as the top-down design of a central authority or the straightforward adoption of a prototype from one region to another, the rhizomatic model posits a decentralized, non-hierarchical topology. Within this framework, policy ideas emerge serendipitously through the fragmented yet interconnected knowledge pools dispersed across various locales. These connections do not follow a linear path but sprout unpredictably, resembling the root-like, spreading structure of a rhizome in botany and Deleuze’s philosophy.
Expanding upon this, Guo and Zhang introduce the concept of “temporal-spatial folding” to analytically depict how policy innovation compresses and intertwines dimensions of time and space. This folding phenomenon challenges traditional notions of linear temporal progress and distinct geographical boundaries. Instead, it presents a dynamic mechanism where temporal hierarchies overlap, and heterogeneous spatialities meld, fostering a fertile ground for policy creativity. This space-time compression recalibrates the relations between knowledge and power, facilitating novel intersections where policy ideas recombine, reconfigure, and adapt in real time, offering a more fluid account of their mobility.
Central to the study is the deconstruction of the long-held metaphor of geographic space as a passive container within which policies merely circulate. Instead, the authors propose a “knowledge-power-space” framework. This triad elucidates how explicit power constraints and implicit power penetrations shape the environment of global knowledge production and policy transfer. Power is no longer a monolithic, distant entity but an active topology, strategically weaving through governance networks and influencing the flows and transformations of ideas. The spatiality of power itself takes on a fluid, networked character, profoundly affecting policy mobility.
This paradigm emphasizes process ontology, highlighting that policies are not static artifacts transmitted intact from one context to another but are emergent, continuously remade entities shaped by the ongoing incorporation of diverse, localized knowledge systems. This layered process results in governance strategies that are simultaneously unique to their local settings and responsive to global influences. This synthesis transcends outdated binaries such as “localization of global models” or “local resistance,” advocating instead for recognizing policy evolution as a creative rearrangement of overlapping forces within complex spatial and temporal matrices.
By integrating the temporal-spatial folding and power topology perspectives, the study critiques and moves beyond simplified binaries dominating traditional policy literature—namely, global diffusion versus local adaptation. Rather than seeing policies as simply exported blueprints or resisted impositions, the new framework reveals the nuanced interplay and mutual constitution of these forces. This interplay engenders dynamic policy trajectories that ripple through translocal governance networks, shaped by multiscalar interactions and continuous negotiation.
A significant strength of this theoretical contribution lies in its illumination of often-invisible power structures within global governance. Through the lens of power topology, the research exposes how strategic compromises and collaborations between international actors and local agents co-produce the spatial configurations of power. These configurations map onto the flows of knowledge, shaping not only what policies move where, but how and why certain ideas gain traction, reformulate, or dissolve. This reconceptualization helps unpack the asymmetrical power relations underpinning policy mobility, revealing a geography of power that is as critical as that of place.
In practical terms, this framework opens new methodological avenues for researchers by suggesting the integration of social network analysis and digital humanities tools. These techniques will enable more precise tracking of policy components as they move through and mutate within global networks, providing fine-grained insights into the micro-mechanisms that underlie the interplay of power, knowledge, and space. The resultant data-driven mapping can decode the complex evolution of policy trajectories and reveal patterns previously obscured by conventional frameworks.
As globalization accelerates and digital transformation reconfigures spaces of governance, Guo and Zhang’s approach offers a timely conceptual toolkit. It equips scholars and policymakers with the means to better grasp the fluid, distributed nature of policy innovation and mobility in an era when policy boundaries blur and interconnections multiply exponentially. This enhanced understanding is vital in crafting governance strategies that are both locally grounded and globally coherent, reflecting the lived realities of translocal interactions and power negotiations.
Their work also challenges epistemological myths that have long dominated policy studies—namely, the notion that policies are transferable objects whose success or failure depends solely on contextual adjustment. Instead, policy mobility is reimagined as an emergent and ongoing process of co-creation, shaped by folds in time and space, where knowledge and power intersect unpredictably. This shift has profound implications for how scholars conceptualize policy success, adaptation, and failure, encouraging a perspective that embraces complexity and contingency.
Moreover, Guo and Zhang’s insights contribute to a more critical geopolitical understanding of governance. By illuminating the fractured and strategic geographical dynamics of power embedded in governance networks, their framework exposes the often hidden spatial contours of influence and control. It renders visible the shadow cartographies through which global governance is enacted, contested, and reimagined. This visibility is crucial for advancing more equitable and reflexive policy-making processes attuned to the realities of power asymmetries.
Importantly, the rhizomatic perspective foregrounds multiplicity and connectivity in the generation and diffusion of policy knowledge. It moves beyond fixed hierarchies and linear causality, advocating for a mental model where policies are nodes within vibrant, adaptive networks. These networks synthesize diverse actors, knowledges, and geographies, reiterating the inherently hybrid and contingent nature of policy innovation in the contemporary era.
The study’s temporal-spatial folding approach nuances our understanding of how policies reconfigure space and time within governance. Through this lens, policies are not just responses to spatial conditions but actively produce new spatial-temporal realities, compressing distances and accelerating feedback loops. The social and political implications are profound, suggesting that governance itself is becoming a temporally and spatially folded endeavor, demanding new conceptual and practical responses.
In summation, this pioneering research by Guo and Zhang reframes policy mobility as a rhizomatic, power-inflected, and temporally folded process that challenges entrenched paradigms and enriches our comprehension of governance in the globalized world. It offers scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers a powerful new vocabulary and analytical tools to decode the complex choreography of ideas, power, and space that shapes the policies governing our interconnected societies today.
Subject of Research: Policy mobility and innovation analyzed through a rhizomatic framework incorporating spatiotemporal folding and power topology in translocal governance networks.
Article Title: Decoding policy mobility through a rhizomatic lens: spatiotemporal folding and power topology in translocal governance.
Article References:
Guo, J., Zhang, H. Decoding policy mobility through a rhizomatic lens: spatiotemporal folding and power topology in translocal governance.
Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 1246 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05433-3
Image Credits: AI Generated
