The urban environment of Cape Town is contested along various dimensions of race, class and geography and presents an important case study to (i) learn about collective action processes in newly developing democracies, and (ii) how legacies of apartheid shape the structuring of civic networks. Drawing on a structural and relational network approach, we interviewed 120 civic associations mobilizing on a range of issues, including conservation of animals and habitat, the promotion of urban agriculture, and access to housing, water and sanitation. Groups came from white affluent areas, to black informal settlements (slums). Co-authored with Henrik Ernstson and Lorien Jasny, the paper compares preliminary findings across networks of multiple types of ties: sharing information, sharing resources, working together on events, and sharing membership.
