Social networks and the study of relations: networks as method, metaphor and form

Knox, Hannah; Savage, Mike; Harvey, Penélope

doi:10.1080/03085140500465899

Cited by 293 publications

(201 citation statements)

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“…Human and non-human actors are continuously shaping and being shaped, meaning object and subject are entwined in mutual embrace (Knox et al, 2006;Strang, 2009;Harvey, 2011). The photovoltaic drive has reshaped the natural and social landscape of central Greece as raw materials change functionality and in turn redesign the livelihood of human agents.…”

Section: Theoretical Ponderings a Systems Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pandora’s box: Photovoltaic energy and economic crisis in Greece

Knight

Bell

2013

Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy

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Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. The Greek photovoltaic program was launched in 2006 and rebranded in 2011 as a way to repay debt and decrease national deficit. The scheme promotes new livelihood opportunities on all levels, from micro-scale home installations to macro-scale solar parks producing energy for international export. Offering potential economic stability to a nation at the fore of global neoliberal crisis, solar energy also presents an alternative to petroleum and lignite that currently dominate the energy sector. However, there are many hesitations and conflicting rhetorics surrounding the photovoltaic drive. Its success or failure as a sustainable economic pathway lies as much in understanding local nuances of social relations and historical consciousness as in governmental policy. This paper presents the findings from preliminary research that aims to "scale" all levels of the Greek photovoltaic experience and raises questions of energy policy, neoliberal rationale, and the relationship between local and global socioeconomic systems. It considers the everyday cultural complexities of implementing energy policy and assesses the contribution of an ethnographic approach to interdisciplinary energy research.

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Section: Theoretical Ponderings a Systems Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pandora’s box: Photovoltaic energy and economic crisis in Greece

Knight

Bell

2013

Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy

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“…This focus on ego-centric networks and individual action contrasts with formal network analysis, which takes a "whole network" approach focusing on the form and structure of social relations within a particular bounded population (Foster, 1978). Nevertheless, both approaches present a challenge to rational choice theories dominant in 6 American social sciences by looking at networks as at once enabling and constraining action, and human agency as reproductive and potentially transformative of entrenched social relations (Emirbayer & Goodwin, 1994;Knox et al, 2006). Network analysis within social anthropology was driven by a dissatisfaction with prevailing structuralist forms of explanation, as well as empirically by a need for new ways of understanding kinship in urban settings.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, there would seem to be irreconcilable epistemological differences between the structuralist empiricism of quantitative, formal approaches using SNA and the post-structural constructivism of ANT and certain ethnographic approaches, which see networks as, in part, artefacts of the research process itself (Knox et al, 2006;Riles, 2001). Working within this tension between more formal, analytical approaches and more reflexive, ethnographic modes of network analysis, we argue that network analysis and visualization can be used as an iterative tool for qualitative research in human geography.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the same time, advances in computing and mathematics, including graph theory, topology and matrix algebra, enabled social scientists to define, delimit, and, importantly, to compare the attributes of complex networks (Breiger, 2004;Galaskiewicz & Wasserman, 1993;Wolfe, 1978). By the 1990s, formal network analysis had come of age as a subgenre of sociological research, heralding the arrival of a "second generation" of network studies (Galaskiewicz & Wasserman, 1993;Knox et al, 2006). The move toward formal network analysis was not solely the outcome of technological advances, but also part of an effort to understand the rise of the so-called "network society" (Castells, 1996).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Mapping civil society with social network analysis: Methodological possibilities and limitations

Marshall

Staeheli

2015

Geoforum

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(2015) 'Mapping civil society with social network analysis : methodological possibilities and limitations. ', Geoforum.,[61][62][63][64][65][66] Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum. 2015.02.015 Publisher's copyright statement: NOTICE: this is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in Geoforum. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A denitive version was subsequently published in Geoforum, 61, May 2015, 10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.02.015. Additional information:Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. This paper explores the possibility of using social network analysis and visualization as a tool for qualitative research in human geography. The approach uses formal network analysis in concert with ethnographic research methods. Specifically, we take a performative approach to network analysis that sees network visualization as a process that produces space for research. Using networks of civil society organisations as our example, this paper highlights the debates over what social network analysis allows and omits, focusing in particular on issues related to flows, power, boundary demarcation and abstraction. From a methodological perspective, much can be lost when the conceptual and theoretical arguments about networks are applied to the material and embodied practices that constitute network relations. Nevertheless, the formal analysis of such networks can provide a representation of relationships at a moment in time that can help to both express those relationships and to open new questions that can be explored using other methods. Just as abstraction is used in an iterative process to move between empirical evidence and conceptual and theoretical arguments, the representation of networks can be part of a methodological approach that moves between the representation of relationships and the ways that various agents express, experience, and remake those relationships. Using the example of research on NGOs and civil society organisations promoting citizenship for young people in divided societies, we explore the utility-and limitations-of working in the liminal space of formal network analysis and more ethnographic approaches.

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“…The advent of Social Network Analysis (SNA) in visualising relationships through mapping social interconnections (sociograms) has enabled a significant shift from loose metaphorical narratives on network relationships to more precise outputs on web of invisible ties among social actors (Knox et al, 2006). SNA can reveal interdependence between social actors and its consequences through employing SNA-specific measurements such as centrality, density and size.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%