FAQ+-+What’s+the+relationship+between+networks+and+movements?

Manuel Pastor and Rhonda Ortiz of the California Endowment define movements as “sustained groupings that develop a frame or narrative based on shared values, maintain a link with a real and broad base in the community, and build for a long-term transformation in systems of power" ( Making Change: How Social Movements Work and How to Support Them. 2009).

Movements are made up of networks, and networks are embedded in movements. Structurally, a movement might look like a network of networks — with a dense set of relationships at the core where many networks overlap. At the same time, networks - formal and informal - are one of many vehicles for building a movement.

For example, the pro-choice movement is built around a narrative about a woman’s right make her own reproductive decisions. The movement connects the needs and values of women with policymakers and the public dialogue in order to slowly shift power structures such that women are guaranteed reproductive rights. Individuals and organizations have moved fluidly in and out of the pro-choice movement. There are no membership requirements, no formal structures, and no designated center for the movement as a whole. Rather, there are multiple centers that have grown and changed over time.

There are many networks - formal and informal, large and small - embedded within and cutting across the pro-choice movement. These range from NARAL Pro-Choice America, with its advocacy networks at the national and state levels and due-paying membership base, to looser and more private abortion-support groups.

For movement builders, an understanding of networks presents an opportunity for a new level of intentionality and impact when designing, participating in, and supporting the myriad networks that link together to create the underpinnings of a movement.