Although existing theory conceptualizes institutional translation as a distributed process involving various actors, scholars mainly focus on the contestation or novelty of an idea or practice, the disparity between origin and receiving context, and the adaptive work of actors. Whilst many ideas and practices are contested and subsequently manipulated to fit a receiving context, the focus on idea or practice adjustment obfuscates the dynamic and complex interactions between actors and contextual factors in the process of institutional translation. We seek to understand how the roles and agency of translating actors evolve within an institutional infrastructure and throughout the translation process when the translated ideas and practices are not contested in principle. To do so, we conducted a case study of the localization of foreign aid amongst local and Indigenous NGOs combating HIV/AIDS in Lesotho. Our study identifies and explains how institutional factors shape and complicate the transfer of practices and agency through a chain of translating actors. Overall, our findings advance knowledge by highlighting contextual factors, such as legacy funding mechanisms, administrative complexity and an established field hierarchy as key determinants of the institutional translation process.
