Network Project Abstract

Gillham was awarded a 2007 University of Idaho SEED grant for research on the influence of social networks on organizational participation in protests.

“The Importance of Social Movement Organizational Networks in Mobilizing Global Justice Protests: A Protest Document Coding and Network Analysis Project.”

Dr. Patrick Gillham

Sociology

Gillham@uidaho.edu

ABSTRACT

This project seeks to identify the importance of organizational networks in explaining differences in social movement organization (SMO) participation across three global justice protests held in Seattle and Washington, DC between 1999 and 2001. Previous research has shown how SMO network location contributes to an SMO’s influence in a movement and how networks impact SMO interorganizational dynamics. However, the literature lacks a clear explanation for the ways that networks shape SMO involvement in protest episodes.  The project entails digitizing, coding and analyzing over 2,000 pages of protest documents (e.g., press releases, event flyers) to estimate the strength and diffusion of network ties among 1,488 SMOs and the influence these ties exert on protest involvement.  Network analysis, a relatively new and innovative procedure will be utilized.  Questions this study will address include: Do strong network ties help pull SMOs into subsequent protests due to the trust and social obligations associated with these networks? Or, are diffuse networks more influential than strong ones in predicting SMO involvement since the former offer greater breadth of information sharing about upcoming protests?  If funded, this project will help launch several years of new research which will include my writing an NSF proposal in 2008.