ABSTRACT
While concerns about the legitimacy of private military and security companies (PMSCs) have featured prominently in academic debates and in the media, today there seems to be widespread recognition that these companies are a normal and inevitable feature of our contemporary security landscape. How did this happen? How have PMSCs become legitimate governors? The introductory chapter argues that an inquiry into the relations between PMSCs and some of their most vocal contenders – NGOs – can reveal much about the industry’s transformation from rough to respectable. To explore the dynamic interplay between NGOs and PMSCs, this chapter introduces the concept of norm entrepreneurship and contrasts it with alternative theoretical approaches. In addition, the chapter offers an overview of the empirical case studies: the focus on the US and UK as the main host and client states of PMSCs, the selection of the most important PMSCs and NGOs involved in norm entrepreneurial activities, the time frame (1999–2014), and the two case studies for institutional norm entrepreneurship, the Swiss Initiative and the International Code of Conduct process.