Cement of Civil Society

Studying Networks in Localities

Inbunden, Engelska, 2015

1 639 kr

Beställningsvara. Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar

Fri frakt för medlemmar vid köp för minst 249 kr.

Civil society is frequently conceived as a field of multiple organizations, committed to highly diverse causes and interests. When studied empirically, however, its properties are often reduced to the sum of the traits and attitudes of the individuals or groups that are populating it. This book shows how to move from an 'aggregative' to a relational view of civil society. Drawing upon field work on citizens' organizations in two British cities, this book combines network analysis and social movement theories to show how to represent civil society as a system of relations between multiple actors. 'Modes of coordination' enables us to identify different logics of collective action within the same local settings. The book exposes the weakness of rigid dichotomies, separating the voluntary sector from social movements, 'civic' activism oriented to service delivery from 'un-civic' protest, grassroots activism external to institutions from formal, professionalized organizations integrated within the 'system'.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2015-05-21
Mått158 x 237 x 25 mm
Vikt600 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieCambridge Studies in Contentious Politics
Antal sidor268
FörlagCambridge University Press
ISBN9781107100008

Tillhör följande kategorier

Sociologi inom Samhalle och politik
Politiskt förtryck inom Samhalle och politik

Mario Diani is Professor of Sociology in the University of Trento. His publications include Social Movements (with Donatella della Porta, 2006), Social Movements and Networks (co-edited with Doug McAdam, 2003) and Green Networks (1995). He served as the European editor of Mobilization from 1997–2005 and has served on the editorial board of a number of journals, including Contemporary Sociology (2006–8) and, currently, Interest Groups and Advocacy and Quaderni di Sociologia.

Introduction: of King Solomon, Goethe, and civic networks; 1. Modes of coordination of collective action; 2. The importance of local comparisons: civic organizations in British cities; 3. Building civic networks: strategies of tie formation; 4. The structural bases of civil society; 5. Network positions and their incumbents; 6. The duality of organizations and events; 7. Network centrality and leadership; 8. Civic networks and urban governance; 9. 'Networking' contentious politics; Postfaction: bringing time and space(s) into the picture.

'Social movements are just one among several important and interrelated modes of coordinating collective action. Networks are outcomes of, rather than preconditions for, sustained interactions among groups and organizations. Elaborating this vision, Mario Diani puts social movements in their place and turns networks on their head while cementing the foundation of a truly innovative framework for rigorous analysis of civil society as a distinct field. Read this book as a blueprint for the future of research on collective action in civil society.' Ronald Breiger, University of Arizona