Networks of beliefs, organizations and events in collective action fields

Collective action regularly occurs in large and complex relational fields. These include multiple actors, holding diverse and often conflicting beliefs, that shape their interpretation of the issues at stake. In turn, this translates into network patterns that may vary significantly across contexts. They may present different combinations of actors (individuals and organizations), engaged in a variety of events, in reference to peculiar sets of beliefs. This paper proposes a strategy to capture the multiplicity of elements that co-constitute collective action fields, and their interdependence. It rejects a determinist view which sees beliefs as drivers of action, in turn generating specific network patterns. Instead, it looks at beliefs as one of the elements that co-constitute a collective action field in their interdependence with agents and events. In doing so it builds upon well-established views of structure as a reflection of dualistic dynamics, e.g. between individuals and groups (Breiger 1974; 2000). The protest marches against the 2003 Iraq war provide the empirical reference for the exercise. They attracted a huge spectrum of demonstrators with quite diverse motivations, which makes them representative of (moderate to radical) progressive activism in Western societies at the time (Walgrave and Rucht 2010). Data consist of over 5,000 interviews collected among participants in eight Western countries. They include 20 questions measuring agreement with as many statements, plus information about respondents’ involvement in different types of organizations as well as different types of protest events (Diani 2009). The analysis, broken down by country, will proceed in two steps. First, “activist by beliefs” 2-mode data will provide the starting point to explore the structure of activists’ belief systems in different settings. Next, the analysis will move to a 3-mode logic (Knoke et al. 2021, chap. 6), in which activists will be the connector between beliefs and other elements of the political process. In particular, the paper will look at how different beliefs about war and (more broadly) politics and international relations connect through peace activists to specific organizational types and specific types of public events in different national contexts. This will be done through systematic application of 2-mode core-periphery analysis (Borgatti and Everett 1997).