Circularity Before Strategy: Translating the Circular Economy for Environmental Policy and Governance in Emerging Economies

ABSTRACT The circular economy (CE) is now a cornerstone of global environmental policy. However, current debates often frame CE as a future‐oriented strategy to be adopted or scaled, implicitly assuming that emerging economies and the Global South are starting from strictly linear conditions. Drawing on practice‐oriented and institutional perspectives, this paper reconceptualizes CE as a set of already‐operating, economically rational practices—such as repair, reuse, and informal material circulation. We argue that the central governance challenge in these contexts is not the introduction of CE from scratch, but understanding how existing circularity is recognized, reorganized, or displaced during institutionalization. By synthesizing research across capability, governance, transition, and justice‐oriented framings, we illustrate how dominant models neglect everyday circularity as “informal” rather than constitutive of the system. We develop a practice‐based translation perspective to distinguish between practices of CE and CE in practice, elucidating how these processes shape value creation and power relations. Ultimately, this paper posits that emerging economies are not merely “catching up,” but are analytically informative settings for understanding circular governance under constraint. We conclude by outlining implications for transformative and mission‐oriented innovation policy.