Networks, interaction, and conflict: A relational sociology of social movements and protest

Abstract

In this chapter I consider how social movements and protest are conceptualized within a relational-sociological approach. Relational sociology affords particular attention to processes of social interaction, the ties that interaction generates and which act back upon it, and the networks which form as ties concatenate and impact upon one another. However, this chapter focuses upon networks in particular, discussing their crucial role in social movement mobilization. The chapter begins with a general discussion of the relational approach, followed by a brief introduction to networks and social network analysis (SNA). The discussion then turns to networks and social movements more specifically, considering both how networks shape and facilitate collective action but also how they themselves are formed. In this latter connection the chapter also briefly considers the impact upon the process of network formation of the need which some movements have to remain covert. Special attention is also afforded to the role of networks in recruitment to collective action.