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Place, space, networks, and the sustainability of collective action: the Madres de Plaza de Mayo
Author(s) -
Bosco Fernando J.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
global networks
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.685
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1471-0374
pISSN - 1470-2266
DOI - 10.1111/1471-0374.00018
Subject(s) - collective action , sociology , action (physics) , social movement , flexibility (engineering) , social network analysis , cohesion (chemistry) , space (punctuation) , variety (cybernetics) , epistemology , political science , social science , computer science , politics , artificial intelligence , management , law , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , economics , operating system , social capital , philosophy , chemistry
This article provides a framework for analysing social movements and explaining how collective action can be sustained through networks. Drawing on current relational views of place and space, I offer a spatialized conception of social networks that critically synthesizes network theory, research on social movements, and the literature on the spatial dimensions of collective action. I examine the historic and contemporary network geographies of a group of human rights activists in Argentina (the Madres de Plaza de Mayo ) and explain the duration of their activism over a period of more than two decades with regard to the concept of geographic flexibility. To be specific, first I show how, through the practice of place‐based collective rituals, activists have maintained network cohesion and social proximity despite physical distance. Second, I examine how the construction of strategic networks that have operated at a variety of spatial scales has allowed the Madres to access resources that are important for sustaining mobilization strategies. Finally, I discuss how the symbolic depiction of places has been used as a tool to build and sustain network connections among different groups. I conclude by arguing that these three dimensions of the Madres ’ activism account for their successful development of geographically flexible networks, and that the concept of geographic flexibility provides a useful template for studies of the duration and continuity of collective action.