The goal of this deliverable on Community Networks and Political Advocacy is the identification of how Community Networks (CNs) gain leverage on regulators and policy-makers: What are the appropriate organizational modes to engage in political advocacy in order to foster the growth of community networks as cooperative plat-forms? What are the successful mediation of their interactions with other actors in the telecom sector and the local, national and European policy environments? In short, how can a CN build political advocacy capacities? With "advocacy capacity-building" we identify the process by which CNs can upgrade the collective skills on which they rely to influence policy development, but also to develop and upgrade the procedures and organizational designs devoted to these activities.
Preprint version Fuchs, Christian. 2017. Sustainability and community networks. Telematics and Informatics 34 (2): 628-639. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2016.10.003 Full article available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0736585316303203 Sustainability and Community Networks Christian Fuchs University of Westminster London, UK Westminster Institute for Advanced Studies (WIAS) & Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) http://fuchs.uti.at c.fuchs@westminster.ac.uk Abstract Community networks are IP-based computer networks that are operated by a community as a common good. In Europe, the most well-known community networks are Guifi in Catalonia, Freifunk in Berlin, Ninux in Italy, Funkfeuer in Vienna and the Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network in Greece. This paper deals with community networks as alternative forms of Internet access and alternative infrastructures and asks: What does sustainability and unsustainability mean in the context of community networks? What advantages do such networks have over conventional forms of Internet access and infrastructure provided by large telecommunications corporations? In addition what disadvantages do they face at the same time? This article provides a framework for thinking dialectically about the un/sustainability of community networks. It provides a framework of practical questions that can be asked when assessing power structures in the context of Internet infrastructures and access. It presents an overview of environmental, economic, political and cultural contradictions that community networks may face as well as a typology of questions that can be asked in order to identify such contradictions. Acknowledgement: The research presented in this paper was conducted with funding provided by the EU Horizon 2020 project netCommons: Network Infrastructure as Commons, http://netcommons.eu/, grant agreement number: 688768 ; Acknowledgement: The research presented in this paper was conducted with funding provided by the EU Horizon ...
This paper contributes to the emergent literature on the temporal and dynamic constitution of temporary skilled migrant networks, foregrounding under-researched interrelations between migrant and non-migrant networks. It does so through examination of the lived experience of transnational, temporary skilled labour migrants resident in Ravensthorpe in rural Western Australia (WA) who were confronted with the sudden closure of the mining operation where they were employed. As a result they faced imminent forced departure from Australia. Drawing on qualitative data collected in Ravensthorpe three weeks after the closure, this paper foregrounds the role of this shared, profoundly socially-disruptive event in the formation of a temporary, multi-ethnic migrant network and related interactions with a local network. Analysis of these social relations foregrounds the role of catalysing events and external prompts (beyond ethnicity and the migration act) in the formation of temporary migrant networks, along with the importance of local contexts, policy conditions and employer action. The social networks formed in Hopetoun, and associated mobilisation of social capital, confirm the potential and richness of non-migrant networks for shaping the migrant experience, and foreground the ways in which these interrelations in turn can shape the local experience of migration, just as it highlights the capacity of community groups to act as social and political allies for temporary migrants.that would require migrants to depart after a set number of years and instead recommend a pathway to permanent residence based on duration of stay.
This paper presents a model of local network effects in which agents connected in a social network each value the adoption of a product by a heterogeneous subset of other agents in their neighborhood, and have incomplete information about the structure and strength of adoption complementarities between all other agents. I show that the symmetric Bayes-Nash equilibria of this network game are in monotone strategies, can be strictly Pareto-ranked based on a scalar neighbor-adoption probability value, and that the greatest such equilibrium is uniquely coalition-proof. Each Bayes-Nash equilibrium has a corresponding fulfilled-expectations equilibrium under which agents form local adoption expectations. Examples illustrate cases in which the social network is an instance of a Poisson random graph, when it is a complete graph, a standard model of network effects, and when it is a generalized random graph. A generating function describing the structure of networks of adopting agents is characterized as a function of the Bayes-Nash equilibrium they play, and empirical implications of this characterization are discussed.
This article aims to build a network for the exchange of knowledge between the government and production, community and university sectors for sustainable local development. To achieve this, the authors relied on the concepts of sustainable local development, social capital, the relationship between sectors or intersectorality, networks and interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge. Regarding the methodology, the abductive method was used. Under a documentary design, the research techniques were a content analysis of theoretical documents and the deductive inference technique. The construction of a knowledge exchange network for sustainable local development stands out as the result. It is concluded that knowledge networks for sustainable local development have positive implications in the establishment of alliances and links between the sectors that make up society.
Purpose– The paper aims to utilise Adam and Kriesi's network approach to policy analysis to examine the range of exogenous factors that affect interactions in the community sport policy process from a local authority perspective.Design/methodology/approach– The research is based upon two case studies. Each case study involved semi-structured interviews with three local authority middle/senior managers, three senior County Sport Partnership (CSP) representatives, and eight regional/county national governing bodies of sport (NGB) representatives.Findings– While the two cases exhibit distinctive socio-economic and structural profiles they provide valuable evidence regarding the operation of the network of partners involved in community sport and also illustrate the utility of Adam and Kriesi's analytical framework. In relation to Adam and Kriesi's power/interaction model both cases illustrate the fragmentation of power at the community level although interaction in one case exhibits a pattern best characterised as "competition" whereas interaction in the other is more closely associated with "horizontal cooperation".Research limitations/implications– The paper highlights the need for improved theorisation of partnership arrangements in community sport, in particular: examining the relationship between issues such as resources, organisational capacity, and traditional involvement in sport development and attitudes toward the community sport policy process; linked to this, mapping the causal relationships in partnerships, i.e. what factors lead to what actions or behaviours; and investigating the utility of various strategies in developing a more cohesive and effective sub-regional policy system.Originality/value– Local authority perspectives of community sport policy is an under-researched topic. It is timely to study these perspectives due to the refreshed community sport policy for 2013-2017, the traditional status of local government as the major funder of community sport, and the public sector budget reductions and reported implications for non-statutory services, such as community sport
This paper examines the variant roles that specific forms of networked-based social capital play in supporting the democratic functions of a neighbourhood governance network in Los Angeles. A significant body of empirical work has demonstrated the positive role that social capital plays in the functioning of civil society, but there has been less attention to the manner in which different types of network-based social capital promote support efficacy of multifaceted civic organisations. This paper utilises network measures from a survey of the members of a neighbourhood governance network in Los Angeles to explore the associations between types of network ties – within group; among groups; to different external stakeholders – and perceived self-efficacy of the member associations. We find that internal cohesion, or bonding social capital, promotes both advisement of city officials and promotion of local participation, suggesting that this network-based resource is fungible. Other network structures appear to have value in different contexts, in that stakeholder connections promote participation, while bridging social capital is associated with perceived success in advising city officials. The findings suggest that architects of participatory reform should be attentive to system goals in establishing supports for varying forms of system relationships.
This article aims to build a network for the exchange of knowledge between the government and production, community and university sectors for sustainable local development. To achieve this, the authors relied on the concepts of sustainable local development, social capital, the relationship between sectors or intersectorality, networks and interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge. Regarding the methodology, the abductive method was used. Under a documentary design, the research techniques were a content analysis of theoretical documents and the deductive inference technique. The construction of a knowledge exchange network for sustainable local development stands out as the result. It is concluded that knowledge networks for sustainable local development have positive implications in the establishment of alliances and links between the sectors that make up society
Shaping digital inclusion policy and practice to meet community-defined goals requires more than access to digital devices and connectivity; it must also enable their effective design and use in situated local settings. For the Nation of Hawai'i, a Kānaka Maoli (Hawai'ian) sovereignty organization with a land base in Pu'uhonua o Waimānalo on the island of Oahu, these activities are closely associated with broader goals of Nation-building and sovereignty. Recognizing there are many different approaches to sovereignty among diverse Kānaka Maoli, in this paper we document how the Nation of Hawai'i is conceptualizing the ongoing evolution of their community networking project. We suggest that the Pu'uhonua o Waimānalo initiative reflects one Indigenous organization's efforts to frame community networks as a means to generate a "sovereignty mindset" among members of the Nation, as well as share resources and experience among local community members and with other communities in Hawai'i and beyond.
Metadata only record ; This paper addresses the need to further understand the linkages between different units of organization (e.g. households, peer networks, etc.) as they relate to increasing participation. Many aid agencies (e.g. UNDP, World Bank) have acknowledged the importance of participatory information collection and planning, yet they (and academics) have failed to address the different linkages between these different segments of the population, especially in terms of the role played by (and granted to) women and their organizations. A further failure is noted in the absence of discussion of participation, empowerment and democracy in the organizations. The author notes two gaps in the information gathering system that will have to be addressed so that development will be more 'meaningful'. The first relates to the content of information relating to the assumption of a bounded entity (e.g. family or community). The second gap concerns the processes whereby information is gathered and analyzed, where local perceptions and priorities are integrated into the entire process. ; available in SANREM offices, FS
