A Modern Guide to Networks

Reviews / Votes

'In this volume, Robyn Keast, Joris Voets, Jack Meek, Christine Flynn and their co-authors highlight an important feature of contemporary social networks that are convened to pursue collective actions for the public good: that all social networks boil down to relationships between people and between people and things (e.g., organizations, infrastructure). By elevating the importance of relationship, they necessarily define the essence of a network as a set of practices that have, as they note, been an essential, if not the essential feature of human civilization, and certainly core to the practice of public administration since the dawn of organized and intentional collective action. The chapters in this volume examine contemporary cases through a focus on relationships and underscore that networks can, when fostered with integrity, emotional and cultural intelligence, and deep concerns for public value and public values, enhance the resilience of communities and whole societies. This is an important contribution to the fields of network governance and management because it demonstrates the importance of reflective practice to the craft of network cultivation.' -- Christopher Koliba, University of Kansas, US 'It is very timely that the new book A Modern Guide to Networks has been prepared. Engaging with diverse networks is now the norm in large-complex programmes attempting to achieve policy objectives that require a long-term and broader programme of cultural, behavioural, and systematic change. However, readily available information explaining social networks form and function and how to work with and within social networks has been difficult for practitioners of these programmes to access. Consequently, understanding how to work effectively through and with networks is still poorly understood. By taking a practitioner-centric approach, A Modern Guide to Networks will make a much-needed contribution to translate the science of social networks so that it is accessible to practitioners and will support these programmes to be more effective and meet the modern social and environmental challenges facing local, national, and global communities.' -- Niall Connolly, Queensland Government, Australia 'This volume examines networks in the modern world, using an excellent and diverse set of contextual chapters and empirical cases from around the globe. It features a fascinating review of these case chapters by academics and practitioners, culminating in a meta-analysis of insights on network dimensions. This novel approach to bringing together academia and practice yields an impressive synthesis which will be welcomed by everyone interested in the work of networks.'