Systems Change and the Challenges of Collective Action with Diverse Networks
By Laura Adams
Systems level social change requires civic actors to form networks that take collective action. Collective action is more successful when the network is made up of diverse civic actors. However, such networks are often challenging to build and sustain, especially in political contexts where these changes are resisted by powerful state and non-state actors.
A new five-page evidence brief provides funders, facilitators, and weavers of diverse networks with an overview of what is needed to build diverse coalitions under challenging circumstances, and what the alternatives are to the default model of a long-term coalition. This evidence review and synthesis came out of a desire to help international donors funding social change networks in diverse political and economic contexts. Its goal is to keep moving the needle from organization-focused funding to systems change with a movement mindset. Much of the evidence comes from academic research in the fields of social movements, nonviolent collective action, and organizational sociology.
We highlight three areas of attention for funders and facilitators who work with networks in different country contexts:
We need to take into account the benefits and costs of network diversity, and understand under what conditions a broad coalition can be successful
We need to think more about the structure of a network in conjunction with clearly understanding the network’s purpose
The lifecycle of networks. We need to recognize that effective networked action can sometimes be at odds with the idea of network sustainability.
The brief and its associated slide deck are free to download and share.
