Global action networks: Agents for collective action

• Published in: Global environmental change Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 130 - 141
• Main Author: Glasbergen, Pieter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2010
• Subjects: Collective action; Global action networks; Network analysis; Partnerships; Stakeholder; France, Aquitaine, Gan; Global action networks; Partnerships; Collective action
• ISSN: 0959-3780; 1872-9495
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.09.002

Global action networks (GANs) are civil society initiated multi-stakeholder arrangements that aim to fulfill a leadership role for systemic change in global governance for sustainable development. The paper develops a network approach to study some of these GANs as motivators of global collective action and investigates how in their interaction processes the actors involved create the organizational capacity for collective change. Based on a variety of case studies, the paper highlights crucial factors determining the performance of GANs; among them the characteristics of the issue field and the development stage of the GAN. The analysis also shows how GANs play two crucial roles, sometimes in combination, sometimes successively. These are labelled as the broker and entrepreneur role. The paper concludes with some conditions for collective action that are underexposed in collective action theory.