Different types of community networks
Jenny Onyx, Nina Burridge and Ellen Baker
Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre, University of Technology. Sydney
Contact Email: Ellen.Baker
uts.edu.au
Networks appear to be the basic ingredient of all community action. But what kind of networks, how formalized, for what purpose, and what specific impact are questions about which there is little understanding in either theory or practice.
This paper explores three civil-society networks in Australia, which differ in structure, decision-making, and sharing. The research involved interviews of key informants in several organizations from each network.
The first is a network with a "head office". After establishment of "Job Network", employment-service contracts were awarded to external agencies, and these agencies organized themselves into networks to jointly bid for contracts. These networks with formal structures proved difficult to manage.
The second network is the Aged Care Alliance, which operates in a traditional civil- society manner, with community organizations collaborating to mount a particular campaign, usually under the aegis of a peak body. This network has mounted several very successful campaigns.
The third case describes a loose network, comprising a number of small, activist organizations operated mainly on-line and by young people. This type of network, although essential for the survival of these organizations, has no formalized structure.
The three networks are treated as ideal types and are theorized, using complexity theory.
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