Networks in Contention

How do civil society organizations mobilize on climate change? Why do they choose certain strategies over others? What are the consequences of these choices? Networks in Contention examines how the interactions between different organizations within the international climate change movement shape strategic decisions and the kinds of outcomes organizations are able to achieve. First, it documents how and why cleavages emerged in this once-unified movement around the time of the 2009 Copenhagen Summit. Second, it shows how an organization's position in the movement's network has a large influence on the tactics it adopts. Finally, it demonstrates how the development of new strategies within this network has influenced the trajectory of global climate politics. The book establishes the ways in which networks are consequential for civil society groups, exploring how these actors can become more effective and suggesting lessons for the future coordination of activism. 'In a theoretically innovative and timely new book on climate change activism, Jennifer Hadden adopts a relational approach to collective action to uncover the emergence, evolution, and diversification of the transnational climate movement. Networks in Contention raises the bar for research situated at the cusp of social movement and international relations scholarship; it combines the methodological rigors of network analysis with impressive empirical evidence and elegant prose to advance new insights about transnational advocacy networks and climate change policy.' Andrew I. Yeo, Catholic University of America 'The 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen was remarkable not for its failure to outline a post-Kyoto climate change mitigation regime, which was expected, but for the public emergence of sharp divisions among civil society groups campaigning for action on climate change. Jennifer Hadden describes and explains the development of these competing networks and their impacts. This excellent book makes an outstanding contribution to elucidating the dynamics of a transnational social movement, as well as to our understanding of mobilized contention over climate change.' Christopher Rootes, University of Kent 'This study documents changes in climate activist networks at a time of increased conflict and uncertainty in the international arena. In the mid-2000s, activists converged around a more critical and confrontational strategy that transgressed the previous boundaries of international climate politics. Jennifer Hadden's detailed analysis of changing transnational networks informs the study of social movements and their roles in transforming inter-state politics. The fact that groups representing those least advantaged by the dominant order have disrupted business as usual in the global climate negotiations is a vitally important story. This book should be read not just for its contributions on the politics of transnational networks, but for its attention to the larger question of how people come together to confront urgent problems that cross national borders and institutional boundaries.' Jackie Smith, University of Pittsburgh 'Advocacy networks have long been understood as crucial to world politics, yet few studies use social network theory to understand how they mobilize and exercise influence. Jennifer Hadden breaks new ground, combining network analysis with qualitative methods to show how network structure influences both the tactical choices and political influence of transnational environmental networks.' Charli Carpenter, University of Massachusetts, AmherstIntroduction; 1. The Copenhagen movement; 2. The emergence of a divided network; 3. A network approach to collective action; 4. Conventional climate advocacy; 5. Climate justice activism; 6. Implications for global politics; Conclusion.