Suppose a group of walkers is trying to gather, in a city, with little knowledge other than observables in their direct surroundings. They must achieve this objective while unable to communicate, nor to access the live map of the city. This situation is common in social movements, where protesters risk having their phone seized and adversary forces block streets.

We leverage the OpenStreetMap database to model a city as a weighted street network. Nodes represent intersections and links are sections of streets. Weights are observables such as the length, width, or any information labelling a street that a walker can estimate when standing at its corner.

We introduce BeWater, a new algorithm for gathering on weighted networks. Walkers follow a drop of water principle: they repeatedly take the street that maximizes a given observable, as a droplet would follow the steepest slope. The stopping condition is met when they reach a street that locally maximizes this observable.

We run an extensive set of agent-based simulations to identify what are the best observables for gathering with major cities, such as Paris, Hong Kong or Seattle. Finally, we propose a network decomposition procedure to explain a given observable efficiency. For each node we only keep the link a walker takes when using a given observable. We then build the catchment basins, which are the sub-networks within which all walkers end up in the same place. BeWater is effective when using an observable that creates a little number of large catchments basins.

Nationality homophily—a persistent challenge in international social networks—limits individuals’ access to diverse information and perspectives. While prior studies have focused on how immediate structural factors influence homophily, they overlook the potential long-term impact of structural restrictions. From a socioecological perspective, we propose that a country's ethnic diversity influences the structural opportunities available for cross-cultural interactions among its residents during their developmental stage. These opportunities, in turn, shape individuals' future willingness and ability to form cross-national connections in international contexts. We test this hypothesis using data on the communication network during an international hackathon event, applying the Multiple Regression Quadradic Assignment Procedure (MRQAP). We find that nationality homophily persists even in an environment designed to minimize structural constraints. Notably, participants from ethnically diverse countries exhibit significantly lower nationality homophily. Additionally, prior experience of living abroad also reduces nationality homophily during the hackathon. We contribute to the literature by introducing the socioecological perspective to demonstrate how structural factors can shape homophily over time. Practically, this study offers insights for organizations and policymakers seeking to foster inclusivity and diversity in global collaborations.

Social movements have been conceptualized in two main ways: as “sustained interactions between challengers and powerholders” (Tilly), which also imply sustained interactions between challengers; and as a particular mode of coordination, connecting civil society organizations to each other through multiplex ties, in the context of broader collective action fields (Diani). Both perspectives assign a key role to network concepts and imageries. In this paper I explore various approaches to the operationalization of these concepts. I systematically compare the formal properties of the networks that emerge from different definitions, as well as the corresponding homophily mechanisms. To this purpose I draw upon data from earlier projects, in particular, my study of UK civic networks in the early 2000s.

This project unearths realistic explanations for transnational environmental problems. It critically assesses the role of collective advocacy in Indian environmental movements by identifying the opportunities and challenges that lie therein. It questions the manner in which states use regressive forms of regulation to curb foreign funding and how northern powers influence the interests of the south. Deploying a postcolonial lens, it explores India’s postcolonial anxieties about neo-colonial forms of control and expansion as it regards transnational activism with 'anti-nationalism' and 'neocolonialism'. But it also unravels India’s use of the very same oppressive posture to carry out its capitalist agenda by heavily encouraging foreign investments in the state. On the other hand, the research investigates the growing challenge of transnational coalitions covertly ascribing to western-liberal, Eurocentric ideals that, in turn, seize the democratic freedoms and domestic particularisms of local activists. Why do foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) hijack local movements? What does the past and present of Indian environmentalism say about its future? And, what lessons do South-South transnational alliances such as SIGTUR and Via Cempesina offer to effectually reform transnationalism in the global South. The qualitative research used in the study is drawn from primary and secondary sources such as interviews, historical documents and archival material that tease out the role of state and non-state actors in critical IR theory. It uses an eclectic approach to present the case for a subaltern transnational framework using local knowledge systems to improve strategies for collective activism and environmental standards in the global South.

How do different dimensions of political work interact to constitute a set of intended and unintended responses to state-level repression, shaping the network structure, processes and relationships in an activist collective? I conduct in-depth interviews with 41 members of a grassroots, direct-action collective. Combined with field notes from observations over two months, this data provides rich insights into the complex emerging dynamics, changes in structure and processes, as well as their personal and collective sense-making. Given the sensitive nature of the group's activities, data collection is tied to the promise of complete confidentiality. This entailed exclusively offline analysis by one researcher only. This presentation outlines a local, open source implementation of the analysis from pre-processing to presentation of results. Local LLM implementations are used in all steps to augment the capacities and capabilities of the researcher. The framework for analysis includes the development and integration of contextual knowledge about the specific situation and timeline to improve the LLM's zero-shot learning. It uses the LLM in an auditable way through systematizing prompts and implementing chain-of-thought reasoning.

Preliminary results show complex adaptation patterns on a network level constituted by rather simple individual and relational considerations. Individuals' opinions in a collective decision process are shaped by their and other members' a) well-being, and b) satisfaction with tasks within and strategy of the collective. Rules for decision-making and patterns of decision impact derived from the data, can provide a basis for modeling adaptation processes to repression on the network under different conditions.

How do localized expressions of dissent become global? This paper answers this question by studying the diffusion of Un Violador en tu Camino—a protest performance against gender-based violence born out of the 2019 Chilean uprisings—as a case of complex contagion. Combining protest-event and survey data, I show the pivotal role of the Chilean diaspora's network structure in its diffusion. The anthem initially resonated with diaspora communities who staged solidarity performances. Direct exposure to these performances, facilitated by shared ties, subsequently inspired non-Chilean locals to adapt it to their contexts. As local adaptations proliferated, initial cultural differences were overcome, rendering Chilean intermediaries unnecessary for further adoption. Essentially, the formation of the Chilean diaspora in the 1970s created a transnational network that, decades later, facilitated the diffusion of Un Violador en tu Camino through clusters of individuals with multiple ties to both Chile and their host societies. This reveals a broader phenomenon in which historical emigration patterns inadvertently create latent global infrastructures for diffusion.

How to empirically address the temporal dimension of collective action (CA) phenomena through social network analysis represents one of the main issues at stake in the current debate.

The multimodal approach has proven fruitful to shed light on the role of events in explaining CA phenomena by addressing the duality of events and actors over time. Events are social settings in which ties among collective actors transform (forming, maintaining, or dissolving), and at the same time can be intended as non-agentic entities revealing the unfolding of CA processes’ structure. The relevance of the orderability of events, however, remains an under-investigated assumption.

Building on the reflections presented at last year's conference and our ongoing doctoral research cases (i.e., the digital rights field in Europe and the mobilization of Fridays for Future in Italy), this contribution aims to present new advances in the application and elaboration of the bi-dynamic linear graph model (BDLGM) to fill this gap.

We propose two concepts and related measures: sustained co-participation and turning point in brokerage.

Leveraging the opportunities deriving from the structural layout resulting from the application of the BDLGM, the first aims to introduce a score capable of identifying the sequentiality of events in order to assess the impact of co-participation in the process.

The second, building on the concept of turning point as an event during which a brokerage mechanism activates, applies distance measures in order to identify the joint role of events and their participants in shaping the relational structure configuration.

How do LGBTQIA+ activists use international human rights instruments to advance their rights? This research explores how LGBTQIA+ activists use international human rights instruments to advance their rights, with a focus on South Africa as a unique case to understand the legalization of same-sex marriage. In this regard, I pose a hypothesis that South Africa’s anti- and post-apartheid movements, along with international human rights advocacy and women’s movements, played a key role in advancing LGBTQIA+ rights. Specifically, I focus on the causal process observations, starting with queer rights movements aligning with anti-apartheid and women’s rights movements under international human rights pressure. This coalition then became involved in post-apartheid reconstruction efforts and was critical in driving the legalization of same-sex marriage through engagement with international human rights norms and transnational actors in the 1990s. The research is divided into two periods: (1) anti-apartheid movements before 1994 and (2) the push for same-sex marriage between 1994 and 2006. This division highlights the evolution of activism and the changing landscape of rights advocacy. The study focuses on how activists leveraged CEDAW reports, non-U.N. international LGBTQIA+ instruments, and regional documents from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Ultimately, this research is expected to contribute to the fields of international relations and social movements by examining how international law is used both in theory and practice to internalize human rights norms at the domestic level.

Intensification and restructuring of neoliberal economies led to inquiries related to the societal responses to these transformations. Many aspects of socio-economic mobilizations became an object of inquiry: repertoires of action, effects of political and economic context, actors´ organizational attributes, or collective action frames. While acknowledging the importance of these inquiries, we aim to contribute to the research on a less studied yet important dimension of economic protest: the link between its inter-organizational coordination and social space. Previous studies have already addressed spatial aspects of economic protest, such as the diffusion of economic protest (Hedström 1994; Biggs 2005), its scaling up and down (Tarrow 2005; Della Porta, Mattoni 2014) or shift and concentration (Silver 2003; Beissinger 2022). Building primarily on the relational perspective in the study of collective action (Crossley 2011; Diani 2015), we aim to analyze the role of localities in the inter-organizational coordination of economic contention.

We conceptualize economic contention as a collective action field where diverse collective actors follow their goals, make various claims, employ different repertoires and cooperate/compete with each other. While such relational meso-level order of collective action is structured by social relations and interactions among collective actors, it also has an irreducible spatial dimension with its autonomous logic. It has been suggested that large urban areas and political centers attract mobilizations with broad (typically “new social movement”) protest coalitions, long ago industrialized regions on the political semi-periphery are the storage of more exclusive traditional labor repertoire “managed” by the unions and workers, and economic peripheries remain silent with occasional outburst of “isolated” radical right/ethnic/civic mobilizations and counter-mobilizations. More specifically, we aim to show the role of urbanization, industrialization, socio-economic conditions or political insularity of localities in the coalition-making at economic protest events which are situated in these localities.

We aim to link relational and spatial aspects of economic contention in the Czech Republic. Focusing on the protest in specific sites (villages, towns, cities), we combine existing statistical data with SNA metrics related to the cooperation of the collective actors in the specific location. We apply a network-analytic approach to economic protest event data (1989-2022) (N= 2042), identify and analyze co-occurrence networks of collective actors in specific site within specific time period, and relate these to their socio-spatial context.

Social media plays an important role in large-scale protests, enabling communication, coordination, and mobilisation through online social networks (OSNs). Protest participants form social ties that shape digital civic engagement. However, social bots—automated accounts designed to mimic human behaviour—are increasingly influencing these networks, particularly in political events. Despite their growing presence, little research has explored their prolonged impact on human protest networks or how different bot types affect human interactions.

In this presentation, we hope to share our analysis of the 2020 George Floyd protests, focusing on the influence of social bots in Black Lives Matter (BLM) discussions. Using network analysis, we identify distinct bot-driven structures, shaped by varying motivations. While some bots—used by activists, news media, and neutral communities—amplified protest news and fundraising efforts, others aimed to disrupt mobilisation by spreading anti-BLM narratives, partisan content, conspiracy theories, and spam.

We will discuss how anti-protest bots were linked to a decline in human communication, weakening both individual and community-level interactions. Their impact was most pronounced among pro-protest users, altering engagement and reducing network cohesion.

Through this presentation, we aim to contribute to the understanding of how social bots influence digital activism, demonstrating that their disruptive potential extends beyond formal political events to grassroots movements. By highlighting the vulnerabilities of activists and pro-protest communities to bot influence, we hope to spark discussion on the need for greater awareness and policy measures to protect online civic participation.

The social movements literature has established that social networks are important for the micromobilization of individuals for participation in collective action and social movements (both for initial recruitment, and for ongoing participation.) However, there continues to be uncertainty and debate about the relative importance of virtual and non-virtual network ties to these processes. This study utilizes social survey data and Twitter data, from environmental movement participants, to examine the relationship of social media ties and organizational affiliation ties to environmental activism. These data are analyzed using social network centrality analysis and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. We consider the extent to which these different types of ties are involved in unique pathways to activism. We briefly discuss the implications of our findings for social movement organizers. We also consider the implications of the changing nature of the social media landscape for the processes we examine.