Networks
Feb 12, 2016
Networks
Networks Individuals not only belong to
social groups, they also are connected to each other through network ties. These ties can connect people from different groups.
Ibn Khaldun and Gellner Sociology of Arab societies
Arid territories unable to sustain agricultural cultivation people engage in herding
Livestock moveable (unlike agricultural crops) – easily stolen
Individuals therefore have a desire to secure their property
Gellner, cont’d This desire leads individuals to group
together for mutual protection This principle leads to a system of
strong, self-policing tribal groups that defend themselves by threatening to retaliate indiscriminately against the individual members of any aggressor group. It provides an incentive for groups to police their own members so as not to provoke retaliation.
Implications for social order Ties between individuals create
strong groups. What about relations across
groups? Are groups doomed to fight with each
other?
Intergroup relations are complex To forestall a situation in which one powerful tribe
becomes able to inflict unacceptable costs on others, tribal loyalties and coalitions must be impermanent. In such a system, groups are far from eternal enemies. Rather, they have continually changing connections to each other. This is partly because people can switch groups – "treason" is acceptable. Patterns of alliances shift.
This impermanence allows the system as a whole to remain in equilibrium, producing a fluid kind of order
In other words, connections across groups help to reduce intergroup conflict
Gluckman Ethnographic studies of tribal
societies provide empirical evidence of the importance of ties across groups
Gluckman In most tribal societies, there are
rules that prohibit individuals from marrying people within their group
Marriages to outsiders creates social connections between different tribal groups
The weak ties can help to reduce conflict between groups
Simmel Describes how societies at
different times have different structures of social ties
Simmel on group membership
Membership in groups imposes obligations, provides benefits
Two patterns of group affiliation Concentric
Based on ‘organic’ criteria E.g., ascription
Characteristic of premodern societies Juxtaposed
Based on ‘rational’ criteria E.g. interest
Characteristic of modernity
Concentric group affiliation Based on ‘organic’ criteria
Initial membership in a group determines membership in all other groups
Example: Australian aborigines
Concentric group formation Example: medieval Europe
Membership in a local community implies membership in wider groups
The Catholic Church Their region Their state, etc.
Concentric group-formation Individuals do belong to multiple
groups BUT
These groups are not in conflict As a result, they do not compete for the
individual’s attention Key point: individuals treated as
members of groups rather than as individuals
Juxtaposed group formation Based on ‘rational’ criteria
E.g. individual preferences/interests Initial group affiliations (family,
religion, neighborhood) do not determine group affiliations The isolated individual can become a
member in whatever number of groups he chooses
Juxtaposed group-affiliation individuality The more groups an individual
belongs to, the less likely it is that someone else will belong to the same groups
The uniqueness of people’s patterns of participation individuality
Consequences of the 2 patterns of group affiliation for individuality Concentric (‘organic’) pattern
conformity with the initial group Juxtaposed (‘rational’) pattern
individuality Thus: social structure produces
individuality Cf. Durkheim on egoistic suicide
Juxtaposed group-affiliation socially heterogeneous groups The Renaissance brought together
people from a large variety of different groups
This broke down the isolation of social groups
Increased the heterogeneity of social groups
Mark Granovetter
Heterogeneity cross-cutting cleavages social order
Granovetter on weak ties The strength of a social tie is a
function of the amount of Time Emotional intensity Intimacy Reciprocal services
Characteristic of the tie
Social ties Are
Strong Weak Absent
Strong ties The stronger the tie between any two
individuals in a social network, the larger the proportion of the individuals in that network to whom they will both be tied (300)
Reasons 1. stronger ties involve larger time commitments 2. cognitive balance: I want my friend’s friends
to be my friends If my friend’s friend is my enemy, this strains my
relations with my friend
Strong ties produce no bridges A bridge is a line in a network
which provides the only path between two points
In a tight network, everyone is strongly linked together
There are few, if any, bridges to other tight networks
All bridges are weak ties (303) In large networks, bridges (in the
sense of specific ties providing the only path between two points) are rare
However, local bridges can represent the shortest path between two points
The role of weak ties Removal of weak ties does more
damage to transmission probabilities than removal of strong ties (304)
Implications for social order A community characterized by
strong ties will be divided into a number of tightly-organized cliques
There will be few, if any, bridges between cliques (by definition)
Consequently Community cooperation minimal
between cliques Trust minimal between cliques
Implications, cont’d Hence, strong group solidarity
social conflict, social disorder Local cohesion may co-exist with
global fragmentation and disorder Example: Boston’s West End (Gans) Example: cf. Banfield’s Montegrano
Networks: Draw the theory Ties across
groups
Trust, information
Acts that reduce conflict
Social order
Networks How do we know if network
theories have merit? Look at the empirical world
Ashutosh Varshney
Varshney Provides empirical evidence of the
role of social ties in reducing inter-group conflict
Varshney Conflict between Muslims and Hindus
in India In cities where voluntary associations
include only members of one religious group, religious violence is high
Where voluntary associations include both Muslims and Hindus, violence is low
Varshney Why? Ties between people of different
religions (fostered by association membership) help them to minimize the escalation of conflict