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Hi Romana,

See below.

[log in to unmask] wrote:
> Dear Mario & SOCNET Members,
>
> I am writing in response to your announced book. After reading the first
> chapter my impression was enhanced ? it is a thoughtful and provocative
> manner of discussing the significance of social networks.

Thanks!

Although my
> modest opinion might not be relevant to the SNA discussions, I have
> decided to reply as a beginner in the field. This situation has been
> challenging and has led to my developing some arguments concerning
> social networks:
>
> 1. The argument of qualitative methods in the social networks research
> I have mainly been collecting quantitative data for my PhD research in
> the neighbourhood (Villa Alvalade) in Lisbon, I have simultaneously
> developed a qualitative analysis and have encountered a gap regarding
> literature and methods supporting the relevance of social clubs in
> cities as a source of community building. Does anyone have significant
> literature/research on this field? How does this ethnographic research
> matter to the development of a more qualitative perspective in SNA (as
> the Manchester University did)?
>
Perhaps Douglas White and Ulla Johansen's *Network Analysis and
Ethnographic Problems* might be relevant. The copy I ordered just
arrived in the mail. It looks terrific. I'd be interested in hearing of
other (recent) works in this field.

> 2. The argument of weak ties significance in the urban context
> Granovetter and Gans (even though he is not a social analyst) had
> divergent perspectives on the power of social networks in deprived urban
> areas. How does Small?s perspective fill the gap regarding this relevant
> argument?
>
Sandra Smith's recent *Lone Pursuit* and Susan Saegert and colleagues'
*Social Capital in Poor Communities* may be helpful/relevant here.

> 3. The Latinos? argument
> As a Portuguese and SNA researcher I have been collecting and analysing
> (informally) Latinos specificities concerning networks (bonding,
> bridging, homophily, embeddedness,?), as a result I have some questions:
> How does Latinos? differ, or not, from the others, regarding social
> networks? How do Small case studies? enrich this eventual SNA perspective?
>
Silvia Dominguez has been working these issues recently. She has a paper
with Celeste Watkins and is working on a book. (My *Villa Victoria* is
also relevant.) There ought to be more on this issue!

> 4. The Social Policy argument
> Despite the tremendous SNA developments in last years - publications and
> developments in social networks - cutting across boundaries of
> traditional disciplines. How do Small?s, Briggs? (and probably others)
> perspectives matter towards cutting across Social Policy boundaries? How
> do Social Policy & Welfare State matter to the social analyst?s research?
>
I would also be interested in SNA research on social policy and welfare
questions.

> 5. I would like to apologize for the ones who eventually feel their time
> has consumed on these arguments, but the extraordinary sociological
> imagination of SNA field and this timely book have made me reflect and
> put forward these considerations.
>
> I thank you in advance.
>
> Best regards,
> Romana Xerez
>
Abrazos,

Mario


>
> Citando Mario Small <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> ***** To join INSNA, visit http://www.insna.org *****
>>
>> Dear colleagues,
>>
>> A book that may be of interest was just released. A critique of social
>> capital theory, it examines how the institutional conditions of routine
>> organizations affect network formation.
>>
>>
>> Unanticipated Gains: Origins of Network Inequality in Everyday Life
>> Mario Luis Small, 2009
>> Oxford University Press
>> http://tinyurl.com/laomzd
>>
>>
>> From the publisher:
>> Social capital theorists have shown that some people do better than
>> others in part because they enjoy larger, more supportive, or otherwise
>> more useful networks. But why do some people have better networks than
>> others? *Unanticipated Gains* argues that the practice and structure of
>> the churches, colleges, firms, gyms, childcare centers, and schools in
>> which people happen to participate routinely matter more than their
>> deliberate "networking."
>>
>> Exploring the experiences of New York City mothers whose children were
>> enrolled in childcare centers, this book examines why a great deal of
>> these mothers, after enrolling their children, dramatically expanded
>> both the size and usefulness of their personal networks. Whether, how,
>> and how much the mother's networks were altered--and how useful these
>> networks were--depended on the apparently trivial, but remarkably
>> consequential, practices and regulations of the centers. The structure
>> of parent-teacher organizations, the frequency of fieldtrips, and the
>> rules regarding drop-off and pick-up times all affected the mothers'
>> networks. Relying on scores of in-depth interviews with mothers,
>> quantitative data on both mothers and centers, and detailed case studies
>> of other routine organizations, Small shows that how much people gain
>> from their connections depends substantially on institutional conditions
>> they often do not control, and through everyday processes they may not
>> even be aware of.
>>
>> Emphasizing not the connections that people make, but the context in
>> which they are made, *Unanticipated Gains* presents a major new
>> perspective on social capital and on the mechanisms producing social
>> inequality.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> _________________________________
>> Mario Luis Small
>> Associate Professor of Sociology and the College
>> University of Chicago
>> 1126 East 59th Street
>> Chicago, IL 60637
>>
>> http://home.uchicago.edu/~mariosmall
>>
>> _____________________________________________________________________
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>
>
>
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--
_________________________________
Mario Luis Small
Associate Professor of Sociology and the College
University of Chicago
1126 East 59th Street
Chicago, IL 60637

http://home.uchicago.edu/~mariosmall

_____________________________________________________________________
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