Situated between various social worlds, brokers are highly mobile figures, in a physical and an ideational sense; they channel scarce information and resources, translate different languages and jargons, and mediate and facilitate between individuals and/or organisations, the local and the global, in a wide range of settings. Taking an in-depth ethnographic look at the actual work of brokers and their particular life stories, contributions to this special issue examine brokers’ successes and failures, their vulnerabilities and limitations, (changing) interests and motivations within the cultural contexts that these brokers are part of. By adopting a comparative perspective in a thematic and a geographic sense, this special issue discusses the role of brokerage in diverse settings such as the transnational world of trade and development, peacebuilding and activism, refugee care and health care, government services and colonialism. In preparing the ground for our individual contributions, this introductory article identifies gaps in the existing brokerage literature and develops the conceptual framework for the special issue.

经纪人位于各个社会世界之间，是具有高度流动性的人物，具有物理意义和概念意义；他们会传播稀缺的信息和资源，翻译不同的语言和术语，并在广泛的环境中在个人和/或组织，本地和全球之间进行调解和促进。通过深入的民族志研究经纪人的实际工作及其特定的生活故事，对这一特刊的贡献考察了经纪人在文化背景下经纪人的成败得失，脆弱性和局限性，（不断变化的）利益和动机。部分。本期特刊采用主题和地理意义上的比较观点，探讨了经纪在跨国环境下的作用，例如跨国贸易与发展，建设和平与行动主义，难民护理和保健，政府服务和殖民主义。在介绍我们个人贡献的基础时，本介绍性文章指出了现有经纪文献中的空白，并为特刊制定了概念框架。