The nature and disposition of a traditional network: a paradoxical case

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper reports aspects of a mixed method, participatory case study of a small international social work research network. The research calls attention to the apparent paradox of a form of collaboration that suggested the enduring significance of traditional intellectual forms of scholarly networking. The analytic framework draws from research and theorising regarding scientific collaboration, and thence in terms of the roles, membership and influence of traditional and modern networks. The network was marked by critical pluralism in a context of mutual respect and shared labour. Embracing a simultaneous intellectual tension and generosity, the emphasis on shared labour had a collective dimension, such that each member was regarded as responsible for sustaining intellectual mutuality. The network was seen by most participants as offering a safe, non-censoring environment and test bed for trying out risky, partly formed ideas. There was a varied, intensive recognition of network centrality. There was ambiguity regarding network membership, with doubt regarding who was a member and which members were closer or more distant from the core. Gender was generally regarded, in an unexamined way, as unproblematic in terms of interactional patterns. There was awareness that the network called for significant maintenance labour.