We explore how a transnational organization (TO) can disseminate ideology by triggering and sustaining a cooperative relation with national ruling elites who hold a different ideology. Through a historical case of the Ford Foundation’s efforts to promote human rights in China (1979-2013), we identify two forms of work through which the TO transformed its default role as an ideology rival to an ideology cooperator with national ruling elites: redefining relations (changing the norms of a relationship to enable new types of exchange), and edge-ball play (taking risky moves that play with the limit of what is possible under a relationship). We show the first form of work produces “privileged space” (action space sanctioned by ruling elites that allows the TO to disseminate concepts and models from a competing ideology) and the second form results in the accretion of local carriers of the competing ideology over time. By situating such work in an extreme context of TOs pursuing ideological influence, we answer the call for institutional theory to address the challenges of shaping major societal institutions, which requires cooperation of actors with conflicting beliefs and interests.
