Abstract
The study of relationships within networks has traditionally focused on concepts such as cooperation, collaboration and other forms of partnership (Brown & Keast 2003). The assumption has been that actors in a network have shared vision and are working together. This study tests that idea by using mixed methods and ethnography to examine 15 neighborhood associations in post-Katrina New Orleans, and 71 of their relationships within policy networks. Contrary to our typical understanding of networks, neighborhood associations engage not just in partnership, but also in power struggles. When excluded from policy networks, neighborhood associations use creative coercion to ensure their voice is heard. Facing a power deficit, these associations look for informal levers to assert themselves into policy negotiation. The result is creative and coercive measures, such as co-opting elections, bribery, blackmail and what one neighborhood activist calls ‘guerrilla warfare.’ These conflicts force a reconsideration of networks. Networks are not solely homes of collaborative action; they are also the location of sharp power struggles over priorities.
Highlights
Provan and Kenis (2008) argue that in studying networks, academics focus on the volume of relationships and the outputs created by those links
Three examples are the clearest examples of such conflicts, and display the broader pattern best. They show how neighborhood associations look for a creative lever outside the system, when they are excluded from networks
The experience of neighborhood associations in post-Katrina New Orleans shows a different experience; there, policy networks are the location of power struggles
Summary
Provan and Kenis (2008) argue that in studying networks, academics focus on the volume of relationships and the outputs created by those links. They call for increased attention to the nature of relationships within networks. This paper focuses on these relationships, using postKatrina New Orleans as context for a series of case studies on neighborhood associations and their networks.. This paper focuses on these relationships, using postKatrina New Orleans as context for a series of case studies on neighborhood associations and their networks.1 In doing so, it radically transforms and redefines the typical conception of such relationships, moving beyond configurations such as Brown and Keast’s (2003) categorization of relationships as being collaborative, cooperative or coordinative.
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